Rage and Grace
by Child You Are Hell Bent
Summary: Is the enemy of your enemy your friend or your enemy? It wasnt something Yugi thought about until he became the hostage of a magic nation, was stripped of the Puzzle and tortured mercilessly. And now this Ministry is asking for his help? But they're not the only ones. The lines between good and evil will be drawn, but Yugi will be lost as to who has the cause worth fighting for.
1. Chapter 1

Hey Everyone, Welcome to the first chapter of my Harry Potter and Yugioh Crossover. Or at least the second attempt of my crossover, but hey I'm a perfectionist and sometimes you just have to rewrite, you know?

Thank you to Vampiregirl 31 and for beta-ing this!... Is beta-ing even a word?

Disclaimer: I, Child You are Hell Bent do not claim any ownership over the show Yugioh or the book series Harry Potter. Although as this story is published on Fanfiction I do hope that was obvious.

It was late afternoon for Arthur Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic. At first the tall, thin man with a brilliant, receding shock of bright red hair, had no idea what to make of the nearly folded and charmed paper Aeroplane that had landed on his highly cluttered desk. The Ministry used the planes for inter departmental memos, but this one made no sense.

The message written inside gave no clues onto its purpose, other than the fact he was to go up to the Auror's office at 20:00 that evening, nothing more. Arthur could only assume that there was a job for him to do. Such a request was not completely uncommon. On more than one occasion, Arthur had been dragged down to a different department because a fellow wizard had found something from the Muggle world. A muggle was a human who –somehow- managed to survive without magic. But to be able to do this, they had developed many inventions. Some of them where quiet brilliant.

Things like electricity and Rubber ducks for example, these things where truly a mystery to most modern day wizards. They required specialists like Arthur to help understand them. Although he never had the Auror's require him for anything along these lines. Usually the Minister's elite magical enforcement would never bother themselves with something as 'petty' as Muggle technology.

And yet?

Arthur groaned as he flicked his wand into the air in front of him. From the tip, a small stream of light streamed into the air, twisting into the current time. "19:30" the red head wizard grumbled under his breath as he placed the Rubik's cube he had been fiddling with for the last hour, back onto his desk.

"Guess I've better go"

Still slightly agitated Arthur pulled himself to his feet. The plain wooden chair scraped on the tile floor, and he winced as the loud noise echoed around the small room. Due to the immense lack of funding, the misuse of Muggle Artifacts office was tiny. There was barely enough room for the two men that worked there. And any loud noise was instantly amplified to incredible amounts. This at times could easily push nerves to their breaking points. Thankfully however, the only other person in the room, Perkins, slept on, his hearing horn resting in his lap.

With a forceful squeeze, Arthur pushed his way through the small space that separated the desks in the small room. Pausing, Arthur took a few seconds to quickly scribble a note onto a piece of paper and placed it on Perkins' desk, right in front of the aging wizard's nose.

Quickly he pushed the small door open and slipped into the hallway. As usual the wide walk way was filled to the brim with wizards walking this way and that. In the middle of the hall, a long line of workers stood, waiting for the lifts that could take them to the different departments. Normally Arthur would be careful to avoid such a line up. Generally leaving before or after the horde showed up, since joining this line could easily take at least a half an hour.

Impatiently Arthur pushed his way past the lineup, thanking Merlin that his office was on the same floor as that of the Auror's. If he had to have taken the lift, there wasn't a chance he would be on time. Arthur walked down the long hallway of the Department of Magical Law enforcement. This was the largest of the departments inside the Ministry of Magic, and if luck would have it the Auror's office was on the completely other side of the floor. It took Arthur the entire half an hour that he had set aside to get to there.

Panting slightly, Arthur stood in front of the doorway that marked the entrance to the Auror's office. From inside he could see the lines of open cubicles. From inside he could see all of the Auror's talking among them self's. Some he recognized: Kingsley Shaklebolt, Alastor Moody with his newest protégé, Nymphadora Tonks, tailing along behind him and a few others. But Arthur paid them no heed, besides returning their waves. Instead his attention was drawn to the group of men that stood in the back of the hallway.

The Minister for Magic was there, standing beside 4 or 5 employees that Arthur did not recognize. Their uniforms where completely off from the clothes a normal Auror would wear. A striking shade of royal blue with silver lining, and the ministry's personal seal stitched over the heart with a pair of wands crossed underneath.

The Minster, Cornelius Fudge was waving for Arthur to come over to them, his bowler hat placed perfectly on his head. Putting the odd uniforms out of his head for now, Arthur squared his shoulders slightly and forcing a grin onto his face. He walked down to where the Cornelius stood, accepting when the Minster for Magic reached out to shake his hand.

"Arthur, just the man I needed" Cornelius said happily when the handshake ended. "I was glad that you were able to come. I do hope that I was not interrupting anything."

Arthur inclined his head slightly, "It is no problem Minister, and I had already finished my work for the day when I got your memo."

"Good, very good. Now if you do not mind, could you just follow me? I have a job that requires your rather… unique… talents." Cornelius said waving his hand to the heavy wooden door that stood behind him. Arthur blinked as the heavy door swung open with a painful groan. Had there ever been a door their before? Once the door was fully opened, the Minister of magic proceeded to walk inside.

But Arthur did not move. In a couple of minutes, the minister realizing that he was not followed turned around, a questioning look on his slightly plump face as he surveyed Arthur, waiting for an explanation.

"Minister, before we proceed, I have a question for you. If you do not mind me asking, from what department are these men from? I have to admit, I have never seen them before." Arthur asked, flicking his eyes to the people behind him.

Cornelius smiled as he surveyed the group of witches and wizards that where gathered behind him. "These, my friend, are a new addition to the department of magical Law enforcement: The United Protection office. A hand selected group of witches and wizards from the departments of Magical law enforcement, Regulation and Control of Magical creatures and the Department of Mysteries. They are tasked with the job of trying to establish some stability, now that our world is back to times of peace. And to prevent the terror of another He Who Must Not Be Named from ever surfacing." he said proudly, patting one of the witches fondly on the head. "And I must say, only a week after their inception, I can already consider this new office a success."

Arthur's head perked up at this, the words already burrowing a permanent hole into his memory. "Success?" he asked carefully. The minister nodded as he started to walk down the hallway, and this time Arthur moved to follow him.

"Yes, definitely a success. They managed to detain the leader of a band of dark creatures that no one has ever seen before. But it is difficult to explain, better that I show you. But first I must welcome you to the United Protection office."

When Arthur entered the hallway, he was instantly shocked. He had been expecting the dark bricks that made up most of the Ministry, the only real lighting coming from the trick windows and torches. And yet… In here it was light and airy. The delicate looking winding steel staircase wound down to the floor below. The walls where made out of some sort of white brick, which almost seemed to glow with their own light.

It was then that Arthur realized where his request for more funding had gone. He did not even want to think of the price tag on this place. The main floor was made of more of that odd white brick. Inside it was designed as the larger version of the Auror cubical. Each one separated by glass, so perfect that it gleamed liked diamonds. Arthur could see several offices, as well as a small cafeteria and a lounge style room. Each one of these areas had at least one person dressed in the united protection uniforms. They were all talking among themselves in a rather carefree manner. But every single one of them looked up when the Minister walked by. Arthur noticed, however, that the group that was following them had not broken off to join their fellows.

"As you can see, we have wasted no expense for these brave men." Cornelius stated proudly as they continued to walk through the large area. "And of course, the generous donation from the Malfoy family was exceedingly helpful in making this dream a reality."

Smiling and nodding Arthur wished the man would just get on with whatever this was. The Minister however was keen on finishing his tour. Describing, in full detail, the many amenities that this new office had to offer.

It wasn't until they reached the very end that the mood shifted into something far more serious. The group had come to a halt in front of a beautifully carved door, covered in delicate glyph. It was the first door Arthur had seen since entering the United Protection Office, and it seemed slightly out of place.

All happy-go-lucky facts were gone. All the brags about the newest features had disappeared without a trace when the door was opened and the Minster pushed his way inside.

"Arthur what lies behind this door is highly confidential. Do you understand? I trust you not to reveal this to anyone, not even your own family."

"W-what?"

The Minister didn't respond. Instead he continued to walk further into the room. There was no one here. The hall was completely empty, devoid of the chatter that had filled the other room. Instead the only people Arthur saw were the occasional Medi-Witch or Wizard of all people.

'Bizarre…' Arthur thought to himself as the fifth Medi-Witch pushed past, oblivious in her haste to get to where ever she was going. Beside him Cornelius shook his head sadly.

"Did they have to bring in another?" Arthur heard him ask to one of the wizards behind him. Out of the corner of Arthur's eye, he could see the man nod. Cornelius sighed. "I still can't believe this happened."

Blinking, Arthur trained his eyes to follow the Medi witch. She was wearing the same pale green as those from St. Mungo's. So what was she, and so many others like her, doing at the Ministry?

The witch quickly moved to a room to Arthur's left. It took no time for him to summarize it was a med room.

The large room was filled with rows of unconscious witches and wizards that lay on pristine sheets. And the St. Mungo's transfers that Arthur had saw earlier scurried between the beds, checking vitals, slipping potions down throats.

Cornelius followed Arthur's gaze, and his eyes saddened immensely. "28 people," He said solemnly, taking off his bowler hat in respect, "injured in the fight to restrain the creature that we hold here."

"Wouldn't they be better off at St. Mungo's?" Arthur asked staring at the prone body of the wizard closest to him. The man's face was deathly pale. Sweat gleamed all over his face as he tossed and turned. Arthur was surprised to hear the man whimpering, even through the glass. He seemed to be having a nightmare.

Cornelius shook his head. "We can't have this getting out to the public; the Prophet would have a field day. Besides that, I sincerely doubt there is anything St. Mungo's could do to help them.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked sharply, tearing his gaze away from the glass enclosed med room to stare at the Minister of Magic.

"Take a look Arthur, half of these men have been unconscious for more than a month, showing symptoms of chronic nightmares. They won't wake up, no matter what we've tried. It's like they have been locked in their subconscious. No one has ever even heard of a spell that could do that."

"And what about the rest…?" Arthur asked hesitantly, no one hundred percent sure that he wanted the answer.

Cornelius didn't replay at first. Instead he turned and rested his forehead against the glass wall. "Soulless." Cornelius whispered finally "they're empty shells now. Just like a Dementor's kiss. But that thing didn't even touch them; they all just dropped like flies.

The colour drained from Arthur's face, and his breath caught in his throat. His heart started pounding with the implications of what Cornelius had said. There was no way in Merlin's beard that anything could do such a thing. It wasn't magically possible. There wasn't a way it could be magically possible. "What is this… thing?" Arthur asked, his voice wavering slightly, but he didn't care at the moment.

The frown on the Ministers face deepened as he moved away from the med-station, and continued down the hall. "It's this way." Cornelius said grimly. "But be warned, what I'm about to show you is going to be the VERY, last thing you are expecting. You cannot be fooled. And you must swear to me that you will not allow personal feelings to get in the way of your job. If you can't do this, I am going to have to ask you to leave."

Slowly, foolishly, Arthur nodded: it wouldn't be a problem. That he could take anything that the Minister threw at him. Later, he would regret agreeing so quickly. But at the moment, it wasn't an issue. The way the Minister had been describing this… this thing, Arthur was sure that he had it envisioned in his mind. Tall, sickly, disgusting…. probably rotting.

Whatever he had been expecting when the Minister opened the last, and heavily locked and charmed door, this wasn't it…

There in the centre of the room, lay a teenage boy. He barely looked older than his son Percy. 15 maybe 16… His wrists and ankles were bound to the table by wand conjured ropes, and around his neck was a thick metal collar with the numbers 2189. Arthur assumed that they were a serial number of sorts. The teen was unconscious, but anything from relaxed. He was deathly pale, his tinged a slight blue, brows drawn up tight, sweat gleaming on his forehead, and his eyes squeezed painfully shut.

"Who is that?" Arthur wondered out loud. He looked like a muggle, judging from the tight, dark wash jeans that the teen was wearing, as tattered as they were. But he had never seen hair like that before in his life. Spiked above his head in a star shape, black in colour, with red tips and… blond bangs?

A sneer formed on the Ministers face, instantly filling Arthur's worries. "No way…" Arthur breathed. "Is this kid it?" he choked out. Cornelius nodded as he walked closer to the teen.

"This is it alright." Cornelius said. "He looks almost innocent like this, doesn't he? At least when he is bound, and his magic sealed…. No one would ever guess what kind of monster this thing really is."

Cornelius voice sounded pleased, self-satisfied. But all Arthur could do was stare. The teen was shirtless, and his chest was covered in bruises, spell burns and cuts. The worst of which was just above his left collarbone.

A deep, half healed, crescent shaped gauge, which had been left, untreated. It looked horribly infected, red and inflamed. Blood also ran down from underneath the metal collar. Probably where the metal had rubbed it beyond raw, the metal looked to be tight enough around his throat. Arthur could feel his fingers twitching to loosen the object, was that the reason the poor kid's breathing looked so forced?

Following Arthur's gaze, Cornelius too stared at the collar. "Nice isn't it?" he said, running a finger over the smooth metal, running his fingers over the numbers. "It's something developed by the Department of Mysteries. It blocks nerve impulses; more specifically the one's which connect ones magical abilities to the brain. We weren't sure that it was going to work at first, but it seems to function the same way it would on a human. With some side effects, the collar seems to sap its energy, which makes it so much easier for us to deal with.

"Of course it does." Arthur wanted to say sarcastically, but he didn't have the chance. A soft groan echoed around the room, and the teen started to shift slightly. Both men turned around in time to see brilliant amethyst eyes open. It was that moment that Arthur could swear he could hear his heart shattering. Even through the hazy film produced from the fever –probably from the wound on his collar bone- and pain, Arthur could see the fear. The child was terrified.

And yet Arthur seemed to be the only one who cared… As soon as the poor thing had woken up, the Minister had been over in a second, forcing his own face into his. The child cringed away, his head shaking from side to side desperately. But Cornelius hadn't noticed… or maybe he had, because his smirk seemed to have grown.

Seconds after the teen had awoken the room had filled. Five men filed into the room, pulling out their wands and pointing them at the boy. These were men that Arthur recognized. All five of them where from the Magical Law enforcement office: Legilimens specialists.

"_What are you doing_?" Arthur yelled, staring at the men wildly, realizing their intent. "_You'll kill him_!"

"It's a necessary risk." Cornelius said with a shrug, as if he wasn't talking about a human being, a child. "Besides I doubt this will kill it. This thing was already to block 4 of my men."

"Are you insane?" Arthur practically screamed, moving to stand in front of the teen. "Even Dumbledore could not survive or block that kind of assault. You have no right to do this!"

"You will find that I have every right Mr. Weasley." Cornelius countered calmly, spreading his hands diplomatically. "You saw what that thing did to my men; it's not human! It's our duty to find out what this thing is and to be sure that there is nothing else like it running free out there!"

Arthur clenched his fists tightly, his jaw working. "That isn't a thing, it's a scared child!"

"I was afraid this would happen." The Minister said, shaking his head with a wary smile. "It's why we have been hesitant to have anyone with kids on this. but you were the only one with the necessary skill-set." He sighed, looking at Arthur with an odd expression on his face. When he spoke again however, his gaze had hardened and his voice was steely cold. Arthur was forced to remember, that despite his bumbling appearance, their Minister was not a man to be underestimated. "What happens here is not open to debate Mr. Weasley, mind your place."

"Then why am I here?" Arthur gritted out from between clenched teeth.

Cornelius's face went back to its calm expression, knowing that he had won the round. "There's one last thing that I wanted to show you." He said, settling his bowler hat back on his head with a smile that was far too content. "We took a few items off of it when it arrived, and they seemed Muggle in nature. So we hoped that you would know something about them."

"I might." Arthur said grudgingly, but he made no effort to hide the disgust in his voice. But as a Ministry working, Arthur knew that he had no choice to do as he was bid. That didn't stop Arthur from taking one final glance over his shoulder, too look at the pitiful form tied down beside him. Amethyst where staring back, wide and unblinking. They looked so lonely, so hurt that Arthur couldn't hold his gaze, and he turned back almost as quickly.

"Where's the objects?"'

Cornelius flipped his hand to the far corner of the room, drawing Arthur's attention to a low table that was pressed up against the far wall. On the centre of the table were two, identical steel boxes, the sides so high that Arthur couldn't see the contents. Nor, could he assume, could the teen. Reaching a hand into one of the boxes, Arthur pulled out a stack of paper cards with odd designs.

"They're cards…" Arthur said, flipping one of the brown backed cards over. On the reverse side there was a drawing of a small round monster covered in brown fur with short green claws and bright yellow and purple eyes. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, immobile and simply drawn like all muggle pictures, it seemed like nothing but the paper was worn and obviously well loved. "Muggle's use them to play games with, kind of like what we do with exploding snap."

He flipped another one over, and then another, looking at the designs. "But theses seem to be different than normal cards. There is no pattern to these…no similar numbers or suits, or at least none that I can tell. On the other hand they seem to be written in Japanese or maybe Chinese, so I could be missing something."

Nodding Cornelius watched as Arthur placed the cards back into the box, and reached into the next one. Thick, oddly shaped metal pieces ran over Arthur's fingers. Grasping onto a handful, he slowly pulled them from their confines, and Arthur could feel his jaw drop. "Oh my…" he breathed, holding one of the pieces one of the pieces up to the light. "What a treasure."

"What is it?" The Minster asked suddenly, pulling Arthur out of his daze.

"I've never seen anything like it. " Arthur breathed as he ran his finger over the smooth surface. "At first glance it seems to be a muggle toy. A Puzzle or a Jig-see as the Muggle's call them. You put all of the little pieces together to make one large picture." Arthur said as he held up two pieces together and attempted pushed them together to make his point. They didn't fit, but Cornelius seemed to get the picture. "This one is slightly different. It seems to be three dimensional, and a lot sturdier than a normal puzzle, which is usually made of cardboard."

Cornelius frowned. "It's a muggle toy?" he asked incredulously, eye brow to the ceiling . "Well, isn't that just dandy."

"Minister, you could have just sent this to my office. Why did you bring me down here?"

Snorting, Cornelius took one of the Puzzle pieces from Arthur's hand. "Because of this." He said darkly, before raising his voice enough to carry across the room. "Look what have 2189" He said to the teen, holding the piece between his thumb and forefinger for the kid to see. He was slow to react, blinking owlishly as the words processed in a mind taxed to it's breaking point, Slowly the teen's head turned to the Ministers voice however, and the moment he did, all hell broke loose.

The teen started to thrash violently, back arching as he desperately trying to pull free of his bounds. "_Give it back_!" he cried, hoarse and so shrill that Arthur had to resist the urge to clap his hands over his ears. "Please, I need. I… I have to put it back… _please!_" The soul searing cries quickly turned to hysterics and the words turned into half formed screams. Arthur could see the tears running non-stop down the child's face, his entire body shaking violently. _"He needs me!"_

Satisfied with his example, Cornelius turned his back to the shrieking child, and placed the piece in Arthur's hand as if nothing had happened. "Would you shut that thing up"! he shot over his shoulder to one of the men behind him. But Arthur knew it wasn't because the child's screams where affecting him as they should have, he was just silencing an annoyance. A few moments passed, and the piercing wailing turned into a chocking noise as the teen's vocal cords where forcibly squeezed shut by a curse one did not use in polite society. Despite his forcibly silence, the child never stopped fighting; and his throat worked silently as he continued to pull against his restraints. Blood had began to pool on the table.

"Did you see that?" Cornelius said, exasperation written in every ounce of his tone. "It's the only way we can get him react. About a week after we brought him here, one of our witches, -Katelynn O'Hara I believe, nice girl, absolutely brilliant- suggested that we melt the one of the pieces, to study it in a liquid state." Arthur could only imagine how well that must have went. "2189 did something, even with the collar on he attacked her with magic; it was almost pure light! It was passed out for an entire week, and O'Hara is still in St. Mungo's with third degree burns all over her body. She's going to be scarred for life."

Arthur didn't believe it; how could a child so something so horrible. Despite his disbelief however, Arthur became instantly aware that he was handling the pieces with much more care than before. He was instantly disgusted that he was now treating them as if they would bite him.

"Do notice anything else Arthur?" Anything could help?" Cornelius asked, and that in itself was almost worthy of miracle status. "Would you be able to piece it together maybe?"

The question probably hadn't seemed that odd to Cornelius, but Arthur couldn't chock down a burst of laugher. It was cold and emotionless, barely more than a bark of disbelief. "put it together?" he chocked. "Goodness me, no. There's no pattern. Except for the edges, all the pieces look the same; I'd have no idea what it is supposed to look like. I don't want to know how long this took the kid to do; Explains why he won't crack, Probably more stubborn than a hippogriff."

Cornelius' face fell, but Arthur raised his hand. 'On the other hand… This puzzle is a lot more than it seems. I don't know if you realized this but this thing is pure gold."

"Yes, we knew that already… besides the economic value, it didn't seem important." Cornelius replied with an absent wave of his hand.

But Arthur shook his head. "Actually it is important. You see in some cultures, Ancient Egypt specifically, gold was used for a conductor for magical abilities; similar to our wands, but not quite."

'Cornelius blinked, leaning forward in surprise. "That's brilliant. How did you know that?"

"My eldest, Bill. He's a Curse-Breaker for Gringrotts."

The largest smile Arthur had seen in a very long time spread across Cornelius' face. It made Arthur feel sick to his stomach. "Of course." Fudge breathed, running a hand down his chin in thought. "The Puzzle glowed when they were first attacked, and again when we removed it. And a light came from the box when O'Hara was hurt."

"Minister what is this all about?" Arthur began, and he could feel the helpless slowly begin to grow once more like festering splinter. "what is going to happen to the child!"

"Thank you Mr. Weasley, you may go now. Security will lead you out."

Arthur swore under his breath as two burly men in dark blue came to stand on either side of him. By explaining the Puzzle, he had given up his usefulness, and his leverage. One of the man reached out to grab his forearm, but Arthur pulled away before he could make contact, and walked out the room. As he went however, Arthur turned his head over his shoulder one last time to watch grimly as each of the Legilimens specialists pointed their wands at the teen. He came to a shuddering stop, unable to move as he watched the teens back arch off the table, his mouth open in a soundless scream.

As if a million miles away, Arthur could dimily feel hands on his shoulders, preventing him from trying to run to the child. And as the Teen's screams broke through the silencing spell, and started to fill the room with a sound he would never forget, Arthur realized how real his attempts to break free were. The screams caused tears to run unashamedly down his face for a reason Arthur couldn't name. It felt like he was watching one of his own children being tortured mercilessly. It tugged at his heart, squeezing it tight. Arthur felt like he was drowning in his helplessness. He couldn't help…

"It's time to leave Mr. Weasley." A gruff voice whispered in his ear. Arthur wanted to resist, but he was dragged bodily from the room as if he weighed nothing at all. Before he truly knew what was happening he was back in the Auror's office, which was thankfully empty. Arthur didn't bother to return to his office as he had originally planned. Instead he sprinted up the rarely used staircase, to the main floor as fast as his legs could carry him. He ignored every single one of his body's protests at the action, not even stopping when the stitch in his side, threatened to make him sick. He had to leave the Ministry. He needed to go home. He needed to tell Dumbledore what was happening here. If there was anyone that could help the poor teen, it was the Head Master of Hogwarts. Because if he didn't…

A violent shudder ripped down Arthur's spine. As soon as he finished with Dumbledore, Arthur swore that he was going to give each one of his sons a hug. No matter how much they fought. He would need it after today, the knowledge that they were all home and safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Rage and Grace Chapter 2.

Hey everyone. It seems that just about everyone found the new story okay, and I hope you did because I've deleted the original Rage and Grace. It's still on my computer though… ;~)

Got a new laptop so Updates should go faster now that I am not playing musical computers anymore. It's one of those little netbooks. I love the thing, but the shift key is so small. I keep hitting the \ key instead of the shift key. And of course my spell check does not pick up on that…

Thanks for all your support you guys. I checked the mail count on my inbox, and there is well over 100 messages in there. Every single one of them from you guys. Thanks!

And with out any further a due Rage and Grace chapter 2.

It's Yugi's turn!

//////

Pain, so much Pain.

Everything hurts.

Each and every nerve is on fire

Head pounding, wrists and ankles throbbing, neck in constant stabbing pain.

What does not being in pain even feel like? Probably nice…

Hungry, Oh so very Hungry… haven't eaten in so long… Thirsty too

Can't remember what it's like…

Yugi groaned as he floated in that in between line of consciousness and unconsciousness. He was teetering on the edge, trying to fight off his return to consciousness for as long as he possibly could. Yugi didn't want to open his eyes. He knew if he did, the momentary peace he had gained from passing out would be shattered.

It was the first time in his life that Yugi actually looked forward to passing out. Even in the days of having the living day lights beat out of him at school, he hated passing out. Who knows what they would do when he was out. But here, everything stopped. They all wanted him to be awake for their 'research' or whatever they were doing. All the pain came to a stop when he passed out.

A small gasp slipped past Yugi's lips as he drew in a too large gasp of air through the tight collar around his neck. The metal dug into the broken skin happily, ripping open all previous scabs. The breath he had been trying to draw in, slipped back into the room.

'Too tight.

'Too tight!

'TOO TIGHT!'

Breathing was more difficult now than every before. Worry made each breath he took larger and far more painful than the one before.

Had they heard him?

Did they know he was awake?

Or maybe, for the first time in ages, the gods would hear him and take pity.

Maybe…

Just maybe, the gods would have mercy and allow his soft cry go unheard and allow him so more peace before the torture resumed.

But the gods graces had left Yugi a long time ago. And it seemed they had no intention of returning any time soon.

Yugi tensed as he felt someone's presence come up beside the steel bed that he was strapped to. His breath caught in his throat as he felt the person's warm breath steam over his face, filling his nostrils with the foul stench of their breath. Yugi tired not to focus on that, working on trying to make his breathing slow and even, a task made slightly difficult due to the vice around his neck.

A few seconds later the presence left, and Yugi had to force down a sigh of relief. He relaxed slightly in his bounds, trying to return back to the comforting darkness he had woken from. Back to the place of no pain, no thought and no memories.

"Not a hope in hell you little piece of shit."

Yugi barely registered the voice, not caring. It wasn't important, he was almost there, the world was starting to fade.

A searing pain suddenly spread through the left side of Yugi's body, cruelly thrusting him into awareness. Yugi couldn't prevent the scream that forced his way through cracked, dry lips. His violet eyes snapped open, tears steaming freely down his cheeks.

It took a few minutes for his eyes to focus through the pain and the tears that leaked from them. He could see the sneering face of his captor, Minister they called him. Beside Minister was one of those burly men in dark blue robes who had that stick type object all these people seemed to carry, jabbed ruthlessly into the cut on his shoulder.

"Wakey, Wakey" The man growled out, twisting the wand in the gash, causing blood and pus to run down Yugi's chest as the latter screamed again, attempting to push the wand away from his body. But no matter how much Yugi moved, the wand stayed in place. Not once, however, did Yugi beg for the sadistic man to remove it.

Steeling himself, Yugi forced himself to stop screaming. The pain was indescribably intense. Locking his jaw and his muscles, he made his body become unresponsive to the pain, not even allowing it to show In his eyes. Both the tears and the screams stopped, and he could feel himself glaring at his captor.

The Man's face fell as his victim started to become unresponsive. Cornelius himself suppressed a growl, before placing his hand on the mans, pushing the wand deeper into the wound. Both men shared an identical smirk at the flinch the thing made, despite it's best efforts.

The wand trick had its desired effects, the thing was awake, and now the fun could begin again. And Cornelius hoped that today would exceeded the amazing amount of information last evening had provide for them.

But first they had to keep this thing alive. At least for a little while longer. Once they managed to squeeze every once of information out of this thing, Cornelius had every intention of shoving it into Azkaban prison for a decade or two, before sending him off to the Dementors for a Kiss. Yes that certainly seemed appealing.

Yugi's entire body had turned to the consistency of rubber when the wand was removed with a sickening 'pop'. The cut still throbbed with a terrific force, and Yugi could smell the result, it was making him nauseous. He gathered up his courage and looked down at the wound, but had to look up again. He wasn't a doctor by any means, but it didn't take a doctorate in medicine to tell that it was dangerously infected. The smell alone could tell the village idiot that.

The thoughts of the gash quickly disappeared however, when his neck, right on the collar, was harshly grabbed and his head tilted up at an awkward angle.

"Drink" Minister growled in Yugi's ear as a flask was pushed against his Lips.

Yugi shook his head, squeezing his lips tight together. The Minister rolled his eyes and nodded to the man who was holding the flask to Yugi's lips. The latter passed the flask to Minister before attempting to forcibly open Yugi's mouth. The fingers pushed so hard on his jaw that Yugi knew he would have several new bruises to add to his collection.

But in the Yugi he was able to keep his jaw locked. He didn't want to drink any more of these wizards drinks. They all burned at his insides, the pain of mixing his magic with theirs so much more intense when it was on the inside.

Suddenly a pair of fingers roughly pinched his nose shut, and the flask was placed waitingly at his lips. Yugi could feel his lungs starting to scream for air as they could no longer draw it through his nose.

'Hold your breath.' Yugi thought desperately as the burn in his lungs started to grow to a point where it couldn't be ignored. ' Just hold it. Hold it. At worst you'll pass out right? Nothing bad about that, it's what you want.'

But holding your breath until your body pushed you into sleep mode was easier said than done. Mind over matter can only take you so far. Eventually the screaming urge from his lungs took complete control of his instincts and Yugi was forced to draw in a huge gasp of air.

Yugi didn't even have enough time to react from the pain in his neck before the foul tasting potion was dumped into his mouth. A hand slapped over his lips, stopping him from spitting it out.

Yugi chocked and spluttered as the vile liquid swirled around in his throat. The sensation became worse when the hand holding his neck up started to rub across his Adams apple. His body betrayed Yugi yet again, and he swallowed. The potion burned violently as it went down, but not as much as it normally did, leaving Yugi to wonder what he had just drunk.

"It's just a nutrients potion. " Cornelius hissed when Yugi stopped coughing. "I can't have you starving to death, can I?" Yugi could only glare as another glass was tipped down his throat. No burning this time, and from the lack of taste, Yugi summarized it to be water. He gulped down the rest of the liquid as quickly as he could, having been deprived of it for several days.

Yugi received both of these luxuries very rarely these days. He had only been given the nutrients potion twice before. He never knew when he was going to get one, and the horrible burning that he felt when he some other potion made him unwilling to drink the potions, whether it was food or not.

'Only the best' Yugi thought to himself sarcastically. The glass of water was taken away far to earlier for Yugi's likings, it had barely curved the edge off of his thirst. But he knew that he wasn't going to get anymore any day soon. He was still starving as well. He had been hungry since he got here, however long ago that was… it felt like a lifetime.

He could feel one of the wizards beside him forcing whatever limited magic they had into their wands. Yugi's wrists and ankles flared up and Yugi could dimly feel some of the skin under the ropes that kept him bound to the table mending. Only enough to keep a layer between the ropes and any veins and arties to make sure Yugi didn't start to bleed to death.

Yugi bit his lip as his own magic started to mingle with that of the wizards. He was starting to get used to the firey sensation, but it still hurt.

And then it was gone, and Yugi could feel fear starting to bubble up in the pit of his stomach. Any second now, the room would fill up with more of those wizards. And they would do that odd spell that attempted to brake his mental shields until Yugi passed out from the effort of maintaining those shields.

But the sound of stomping feet never came. Yugi waited for several minutes, but nothing every happened. The Minister and the man beside him just started talking in hushed tones from the other side of the room. Yugi's eyes narrowed. Now what?

Yugi soon got his answer however, as the Minister finally returned to Yugi's table, running his hands lightly through Yugi's hair. "We've decided to try something new." he whispered in the teens ear, his breath tingling Yugi's earlobe. "Truth serum doesn't work on you, nor do most potions and spells that we have tired. So we're going to go a little more old school. Some of those good old fashioned interrogation methods that you don't see anymore. All that is going to happen is I'm going to ask you some questions. Really simple ones at that. And all you have to do is answer."

Yugi rolled his eyes in defiance.

"Oh?" Minister asked blinking slightly before a smile crept onto his face. "So naively defiant. It's almost cute. However, you really don't have a choice, because every time you fail to answer a question, or I don't like your answer, My partner gets to do this."

Yugi cried out as he felt something incredibly sharp cut across the sensitive skin on his thigh, causing an almost unbearable stinging sensation. Looking down, he was shocked to see a new rip in what was left of his jeans, and blood starting to dye the remaining material red. To the side he could see the man that followed Minister had his wand out, and the tip was smoking slightly.

"Alright, now that is settled, let us get down to business." Minister said, clapping his hands together gleefully, nodding to the man decided him, the latter pointing his wand to Yugi's forearm.

" What are you?"

The question wasn't a new one, he was asked it just about everyday, whether through mental attacks, or after having a potion cocktail shoved down his throat. But he still had no idea what in hell they meant by it. "A human." Yugi replayed in the end, his voice horse and scratchy from lack of use besides all the screaming he had done. "Just like you."

He winced as the man's spell sliced through the bare skin on his upper arm. The cut was long and thin. But it was deep, and blood slowly seeped to the surface before spreading down his arm. He hissed at the pain, but other wise kept to himself.

"No your not." Minister replayed as if explaining something to an ignorant student. "No human could do half the things I have seen you do. No that must certainly is the wrong answer. But I will allow you to skip to the next one, for now."

"Next question." This time, the wand moved right along Yugi's abdomen. He could feel the wand pressing harshly against his side each time he took a breath. "What magic allowed you to do this to my men."

Yugi's eyes hardened slightly, and his eyebrows moved downward. Out of habit, his eyes moved slightly to the Millennium puzzle. "Nothing you could understand, no matter how many mortal lifetimes you live."

The cut was larger this time, scoring across his stomach, right above his belly button. Tears came to Yugi's eyes as he clenched his teeth together, trying not to make a sound. But it hurt. The he was still bleeding when the man moved to position his wand against Yugi's cheek bone.

"Where are your friends?

"What friends?" Yugi growled out, moving his face to the side to try and move the wand tip away from his face. But the man only pressed it harder. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't play dumb. I know that when my men showed up they got into a fight with 5 people, and yet we only have you. Where are they hiding?" Minister snarled, placing his hands on either side of Yugi's face. "You had better answer, Or the next spell will take out your eye."

The wand on Yugi's cheek shifted toward his nose, now perfectly inline with the center of his eye. But Yugi didn't budge. Minister wasn't lying, there had been 4 other people with him that day. And Yugi had made the decision to send them off. If Minister found them, then all of this would be in vain. "I have no Idea who you are talking about." Yugi spat back.

He was prepared this time, that man's wand always sparked the second before that slicing spell could be preformed. Yugi had noticed it the last two times it had been preformed. At the last second Yugi was able to tilt his head to the side. The spell seared up his cheek, and sliced through his eyebrow. Blood started to pour down his face, but it had not done any damage to his eye.

Minister grabbed his chin, and forced his head up. "One last question." he hissed menacingly, as he ran his finger over the long bleeding cut on Yugi's face smearing the crimson liquid. Leaning down he gently whispered in Yugi's ear, as a child would when telling a secret.

"Who, is Yami?"

Yugi's eyes widened, and his entire body froze. Minister leaned back, looking just like a cat on a fish boat. Yugi's head shook form side to side, the words "no, no, no, no" spilling form his lips in non coherent sentences.

"Someone important than? Than I suppose I should tell you where I heard his name. Right before you passed out during our last session, that name slipped out through your pathetic mental blocks. Clear as day. You do realize what that means don't you? It means that tomorrow, when I bring in my men again, you won't be able to hold us out. We'll know everything about your kind, and we'll annihilate it. All thanks to you."

Yugi clenched his fists, his entire body shaking. "Get away from me!" his growled out, pulling up against the bonds. "I won't give you anything you want."

"Touch a nerve did I? You know I wouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures if you would just answer my questions. Save yourself a lot of pain and mental trauma." Minister said, his demeanour changing, a welcoming smile on his face. "I'll ask you one more time. Who is Yami?"

Yugi turned his head away from Minister, shutting his eyes.

Ministers face turned a bright red in frustration. "Fine then." he said disgustedly, the smile gone. "We will continue on like normal tomorrow."

Minister started to leave the room, Yugi could hear his heavy foot steps, and the grating sound of a heavy wooden door on cement flooring. Suddenly however the foot steps stopped. "Oh, one last thing. I told a friend of mine, from the department of Mysteries, that they could run some tests on you today if you didn't give me what I wanted. They have so many questions they want answered. And I doubt any of their means are going to be practically… 'pleasant'."

And with that Ministers presence was gone, and the man that had entered with him, followed a few seconds later. If their wasn't going to be any more mental attacks today, would it be safe to enter his soul room?

He would have to see what these mysteries people wanted to do first. But he needed to check, he needed to know that Minister was lying, that he had heard the name somewhere else. But deep in Yugi's stomach he knew that the only way that Minster would know Yami's name would be through him.

A older woman, and a boy in his late teens entered a few minutes later. Yugi watched them both carefully, as they each pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. They hadn't pulled out their wands yet, which seemed to be the only way these wizards could enter his mind. Yugi took that as a good thing.

"I must remember to thank the Minister for this." The female witch said gleefully, a small smile turning up the corners of her slightly wrinkled face. "This is a once in a life time opportunity, Mr. Smith. I hope that you will make the best of it."

The teen nodded, a small grin on his face. "What exactly are we going to be doing?" he asked, excitement evident in his voice. Yugi realized with a sick sensation in his stomach, that he now knew what those poor mice had to feel like in those labs. He could feel their eyes on him, staring at him as if he was some oddity at the zoo. A chill ran down his spine.

"Well, were going to run some tests on it's magical energy. See if we can use it for anything. An energy source maybe. Or will it's blood have magical properties? So far the energy signature seems almost similar to that of a unicorns horn. Maybe it will have similar qualities?"

Yugi noticed that the witch was practically jumping up and down on the spot. Her voice throbbing with her enthusiasm. He wanted to scream at the woman that he wasn't a thing, wasn't something to experiment on. he had rights. Wasn't Britain supposed to be big on that kind of thing? But even as those words came to the top of his tongue, Yugi realized that he didn't have the energy to say a word. Hell he didn't even have the energy to lift his wrist at the moment.

Yugi closed his eyes in defeat as he lay, as calmly as possible on the table. 'Pick your battles' he sighed to himself, as he heard the two approach, nattering happily in English. 'Don't waste all your energy on something like this.'

Fingers moved to his neck, and Yugi hissed as the ran over the metal collar on his neck, pushing it deeper into the cuts on his neck. They ran over the entire surface of the metal, looking for something.

"Take a look Mr. Smith. This is one of the collar prototypes that came out of our offices a few months ago. I was so surprised when the Minister commissioned them. I never thought that we could actually put it to use. But here we are." The witch said, right beside Yugi's ear, giving no regard for his hearing. But at least he knew who had their hands on the collar. "I want you to find the dial on the left side for me Hon. And turn it up half way."

A second pair of hands went along the collar. These ones, less certain as to what they where doing, caused large spikes of pain to run through Yugi's system. His eyes started to water from underneath his closed lids, but none of them went any farther.

"Found it!" Smith said from Yugi's other side, his fingers grasping onto something that Yugi had not noticed before. He could feel his body tensing warily, this wasn't going to be fun.

At first, when the woman's assistant turned the knob nothing happened. But then Yugi started to fell odd, as if something was slowly seeping out of his skin. The sensation grew, however, until Yugi could feel his back arching of the table of it's on accord. How, he didn't know, because Yugi most certainly did not have the strength to be doing that on his own right now.

Looking to the left, Yugi could see something that he could only guess was his magic, floating along beside him. He really had no other definition for it. White light danced around his body, black licking the very edges of it. But the darker portion was barely there, and was more dominate where his broken puzzle was located

The feeling of being drained was more intense now. He felt even more tired than ever before, something Yugi would not have thought possible five minutes previous. When he opened his eyes, his vision swam , not able to stay in focus. Very dimly, as if listening to a out of service radio, he could hear the other two talking.

Yugi was about to faint. His head was swimming, his vision blacking out in the corners. 'Finally…'Yugi breathed, as he pictured the hallway outside of his soul room inside his minds eye. Doing so would allow his subconscious to travel there when he passed out.

Yugi jerked awake however, when his blurry mind managed to sluggishly move to a new track. Why was he falling unconscious in the first place? He struggled to wake himself up, now afraid of falling asleep.

Truly struggling now, the other voices in the room started to go into a sharper quality.

"Wha…is…appening" The male said, slight urgency in his town. Yugi fought to hear more.

"Its…ody… must b….connected to its …agic in a way… ore… intima…et then…re…own. Since w… are drawing the magic … íts body is dieing." the witch said. She didn't sound hectic, or even worried about this statement. In fact she sounded as if she was teaching. Yugi didn't agree to her sentiments, this could not be a good thing. At the very least their voices where starting to come in a bit more clearly now, but that was taking a lot of effort.

"That is truly unfortunate… We won't be able to use it like a power source as we had originally hoped. Maybe his blood will be good for something?"

It could just have been Yugi's imagination, but his heart felt like it was starting to slow down. The racing pulse that he had felt so clearly in his chest was disappearing. It felt as if a heavy, velvet blanket was being draped over his body. Was his breathing starting to get more difficult to? Everything was going black, his vision was going gray at the corners, he felt as if he was sinking. He had to stay awake…

"Sir!"

"Have I not asked you to stop calling me that Mr. Smith. I am a Witch not a wizard, so I do not appreciate that form of address."

" Sorry, But we need to shut of the collar. It's heart rate is dropping. The Minister said we couldn't kill it."

There was a soft agreeing noise, and fingers once again found the switch on his collar. This time Yugi couldn't summon the strength to groan at the pain in his neck. But at least whatever they had been doing was over.

"Not a matter, we still have his blood to work with. Mr. Smith if you could take a sample."

Yugi could feel the blood being drawn from his skin, but it was not important. Yugi could feel his head start to swirl once again. This time he didn't fight the fainting sensation, and the metal table, the pain and those people disappeared.

*****

When Yugi opened his eyes again, he found himself leaning up against a stone wall in a dimly lit hallway. It was the hallway that held the room of his soul. Sitting up, Yugi allowed himself a quick smile at the familiar location.

The smile slipped of his face however, when he looked at the state the hallway was in. Originally Yugi had thought that the state of the hallway represented the state of the bond between himself and his darker half of his Soul. The meeting place of their tightly wound souls.

Now that idea was been thrown into sharp relief.

He and Yami, where connected through the Millennium Puzzle. As was Yami's soul bound to the object. But when the puzzle had shattered, as had the medium which connected them.

The Hallway had suffered for it. On Yami's side, there used to be an impervious, and intimidating looking door. The symbol ever present on the millennium items was engraved in gold in the center. But now the door was gone, leaving only a gapping hole where it had once stood. Only the eye remained now, and the center piece was missing.

Yugi could feel his eyes watering as he stared at the sight. He had been separated from the dark half of his soul for so long now. Longer than they had ever been separated since Yugi had solved the Millennium Puzzle. He felt so empty. And as time went on, the hope that Yami would be alright when, (and if they where every reunited.) dissipated. The puzzle was a cursed item, made from the souls of 99 humans. The first time Yami had been sealed, he had returned to the world of the living as an amnesiac. Not even knowing his own name.

How long did it take for the process to start all over again?

When the Puzzle had been broken the second time, (during his duel with Bandit Keith/ Malik) Yami had admitted that he had forgotten the events that had led them to that dangerous location in the first place.

And yet that was only the tip of his worries.

Yami had always been cryptic about his time in the puzzle. Never really discussing what his 5000 year long imprisonment had been like. At the time Yugi hadn't pressed the matter, not really sure that he wanted to know what it was like. But know, as he lived through whatever these Wizards where trying to do to him, scenario after scenario of what was happening to his Yami would run through his head. Each one more horrible than the last. He was scared out of his mind.

Biting his lower lip so hard that he could taste blood, Yugi forced himself to return to his actual purpose. He turned around to face the other end of the hallway, to his own soul room. But before it came into sight, Yugi squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of what he would see.

Yugi had not entered the room since he had arrived with the wizards. The mental shields he had erected came in the form of a shut door which sealed his soul room, or mind, as they called it. Those shields were weaker when their creator was actually in the soul room.

But this was important. He needed to know how his shields where holding up.

Slowly, hesitantly, Yugi allowed his lids to slide open. The plain wooden door slowly came into focus and Yugi felt his entire body shake in horror.

The door was heavily scarred. Scratches scoring the wood so heavily, that Yugi couldn't see a single part of the original smooth wood left. But that wasn't the worst of it. Some of those scratches had left large dents in the wood, leaving shavings littered on the floor at Yugi's feet. The largest of the holes actually shone through to Yugi's soul room, allowing him to see the bright paint of the walls within.

Yugi raised a trembling hand to the peek hole, Running his fingers over the splintered wood.

"No…"

Minister was right, his shields where braking. Already the name of his Yami had slipped through his shaky defences. And most of these indents would become actual holes if they where attacked anymore, allowing more and more vital information to slip through.

It was all over, he had lost.

Yugi slammed down onto his knees, his shoulders heaving as he placed his forehead against the rough wood. Tears streamed down his cheeks. After all that had happened, after all he had tried to protect. It was all going to be in vain. All his friends and loved ones where going to be in danger.

Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu,

Ryou, Bakura, Malik

Yami….

A small moan slipped through his shuddering lips as he leaned back way from the door. Lurching to his feet, he stared at the scared shell. Raising a shuddering hand towards the wooden surface, he willed the shield to reconstruct itself. The door seemed to shake slightly, and the wood that littered the floor started to hover before falling to the ground with a loud clatter.

Yugi gasped as the collar sent a white hot bolt of pain through his body, his eyes wide. Fingers flew up to the metal, feeling the foreign magic swirling through the device. It was stopping him from even attempting to rebuild his shields.

Yugi could feel his feet slipping out from under him as he slumped up against the remains of his soul room door. Yugi pulled his knees up to his chest, rapping his arms around them and buried his face in his arms.

"I need help… Yami… I can't do this alone anymore,"


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, sorry about the slow update. But personally I think being smacked by a car makes for a damn good excuse for not writing. Ripped my left shoulder from its socket to almost the point of no return (a lot of physio is required to fix it), a nice concussion, broke two ribs and snapped my left wrist bone almost in half.

In a nut shell, I hurt... a lot.

So I haven't been able to type, work or anything lately along those lines, since I'm left handed, I now have scribed for school, lucky me. But they don't really help with typing Fan Fiction XD and let me be the first to say that typing with one hand is a slow... slow... SLOW process.

I want everyone to give a mega thanks to hannapat for beta-ing this for me. Now you don't have to live through my horrible grammar any more!

////

It was late morning in Cairo , Egypt . The sun soared high in the sky, increasing the heat to almost unbearable levels. Tourists and locals alike pushed their way through the narrow streets of a local, outdoor market. Everyone was desperate to get their shopping done as quickly and efficiently as possible to avoid the afternoon heat.

One such person grumbled as he pushed past a larger man in a Hawaiian print tee-shirt. The figure had to squeeze past the older man, pulling the dark material of his hooded robe closer to his body.

The size of the crowd was ridiculous. There was no room to breath, and the figure could feel his body being shuffled along with the crowd. If he had not been used to this kind of thing, he would have been in trouble.

Side steeping out from underneath the arm of an elderly woman, the man was able to escape the swarming crowds, and press himself up against one of the many stalls that lined the market.

"Thank Ra" The figure breathed under his breath, taking large gasps of air to try and calm his breathing down. "I didn't think I was going to make it out of there in one piece."

Turning around, he noticed that he was leaning against one of the few food stands in this entire market. The part of town he was in was right at the edge of Cairo, right before all the magic of Egypt that people came to see. Finding a vendor that sold something besides gaudy trinkets was a feat on its own.

"What will it be, sir?" a curt voice said from beside him. The robed figure looked up at the voice, peering into the gruff expression on the man's face.

He placed a finger to his face, playing with the hood that hid his features. The vendor had a large variety of goods for sale, some more appetizing than the others. Eventually he pointed to a fresh looking pile of fruits and once again at the cans of pop beside them.

"3 cans of pop and bag full of those." He said to the vendor, before turning back to the crowd, watching it with a keen eye. "It seems like there are more people here than last year." The robed man said conversationally, leaning up against the stall and casually crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The vendor grunted as he shoved the fruit into the bag. "Seems so, doesn't it" he grumbled, pushing the robed mans purchase towards him. "Don't know if I love 'em or hate 'em. On one hand they pay the bills. On the other, they're such a headache."

"I agree completely my friend." The robed man said pulling the bag towards his person. "Guess I should pay you then?"

"You had better." The vendor growled, his eyes flashing angrily. "You would be amazed at how many people forget such a trivial task these days. And of course the police all frown on reminding them."

"Of course, of course," The hooded man said happily, his arm moving within the dark material of his robe. The vendor watched his customer carefully, half expecting the man to bolt. As subtly as he could, the vendor reached towards the knife he kept beside his cash box, prepared to ensure payment.

"Will this do?"

The vendor's head perked up, his hand releasing its grip on the knife's hilt. In the robed mans hand was an odd looking rod, with a winged orb at the top. An authentic looking Egyptian eye was set into the centre.

The vendor's eyebrow rose slightly as he stared at the object in front of him. It was definitely gold, and looked to be something one would see at a museum: a priceless artefact. "A little much for some fruit and pop don't you think?"

The figure laughed in agreement as he brought the rod up to the light. "True, true…" he said, rubbing a tan finger over one of the wings which branched off the orb. "But I am out of money, so unless you are willing to make a deal…"

The man's lips were still moving, but the vendor was no longer paying attention to what was being said. He was entranced by the object in his customers' hands. It was a beautiful piece, and the way it glowed in the sunlight was absolutely memorizing. He could stare at it for the rest of his life.

"A deal is fine…" the vendor said, slowly, his words slurred and rather monotonous, almost as if he wasn't all there. "In fact, don't worry about paying. Those were about to go bad anyway…"

The man in the robe grinned as he pushed the bag inside his robe. He was careful to keep the rod level with the vendor's face, not breaking contact. "Thank you very much." The robed man said cheerfully, leaning back away from the vendor with a grin on his with that the robed figure slinked back into the crowd, allowing his body to be pushed around with the mob once vendor blinked, shaking his head as if trying to rid himself of something. All of a sudden his head felt incredibly fuzzy. A heavily scarred hand came up, and the vendor rested his aching head up against it. "What on earth?" he groaned before slumping back down onto his plane wooden stool.

"Ugh… I feel hung-over

Looking around to the water bottle standing beside him, the vendor glared suspiciously at its half drunken contents. Gingerly, the he picked up the bottle as if it was toxic. He peered into the clear substance, before dumping it onto the rough cobble stone streets beneath him. He should know better than that, leaving a bottle open and unattended on his counter. This wouldn't be the first time some punk had slipped something into his water. When the vendor looked back at his stall, it was evident that a large chunk of his produce was missing.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me?"

Meanwhile, the robed figure was slowly but surely pushing his way through the crowd, now headed towards the busiest part of town. Eventually the figure found the place he had been looking for. With practiced ease, he slipped free once again and sipped into a deserted side alley.

As soon as he did so, darkness enveloped his figure. The high walls of the buildings surrounding him prevented any direct sunlight from entering the alley. With the dark material of his robe, the man became all but invisible within the cool cover of the shadows.A large grin spread across his face as he raised a tan hand up to lift the hood from his face. He was all but dying in the dark cover of his robe, the material soaking up the heat like a sponge. But for some reason beyond his understanding, a lot of the locals dressed like this, and it was absolutely necessary that he avoid attracting too much attention to himself.

As the hood slipped away from his features, long blonde hair shook free from its confines. Malik stripped the rest of the robe from his tan skin. Underneath the heavy robe, was his normal lilac shirt, and tan cargo pants.

Far more comfortable.

The robe flopped down to the ground in a heap. Malik stared at it for a few seconds, his grin turning into a thoughtful frown. As much as he hated the stupid thing, he couldn't just leave it he _could_...

But he would get in shit for it.

With a heavy sigh, Malik picked up the robe, gripping it in between his forefinger and thumb. Malik found himself paling at the smell. It didn't matter how often you washed them, the robes always ended up stinking after a couple hours of being worn.

Dragging the pile of black material on the ground behind him, Malik approached the very back of the alley. There were piles of boxes stacked up against the back wall, all abandoned and full of miscellaneous garbage. Any sane person wouldn't come within three feet of the thing, because if the robe had smelt bad, it was nothing compared to the smell emanating from these boxes. Malik could feel his stomach curling at the putrid sent.

Malik looked over his shoulder, making sure that the alley was still empty. He could hear the thunder of rustling feet, and the monotone roar of people's voices from here. The perfect cover.

Malik wrapped his hand around the Millennium rod, which was strapped to his belt. Almost instantly he felt the low throb of magic, filling up his entire body. Malik's eyes flashed as he stared at the boxes, focusing his magic into penetrating the barrier in front of him. Malik drew the image of the objects moving to the left corner of the alley way into his mind, before releasing the magical energies.

The boxes creaked slightly as Malik worked, and before a single bead of sweat had broken, they lurched roughly to the side.

Malik grinned when the boxes shifted. This was a new thing they had been experimenting with: magic beyond the set restrictions of their specific items. It took a bit of effort, but it was totally worth it to be able to do things like this. Malik had no interest what so ever in touching that disgusting garbage heap.

Ryou's yami, Bakura, was the best at this kind of thing. He had been using the Millennium Ring for other things for years. And of course no one really knew what the Millenium Puzzle could do, so neither Yugi nor Yami knew if they were doing something out of the ordinary.

Malik's fist clenched as those two names unwillingly slipped into his mind. All of the people here had been avoiding their name for a while now, because even hearing them brought an overwhelming urge to hit something. _But_, Malik thought to himself as his fist slowly unclenched, _there is no reason to get all angsty over this_._ Best to save those kinds of emotions for when they could be of use._

Like in a dark game with an idiot for one.

And who ever said bottling their emotions was a bad thing?

Underneath the boxes Malik had just shoved aside was a trap door, one of the many that were spread through Cairo . Though rather clichéd for a secret entrance, Malik had to admit they did their job brilliantly. Only people who knew where they were hidden could find them.

With a mighty heave, Malik lifted up the heavy door to reveal the corridor hidden inside. Beneath the door was a plain stone stair case which led to the Egyptian underground.

Once, it had been the home of generations of tomb keepers. Malik hated every, single, thing to do with the place, from the overwhelming heat to the stuffy smell that lay heavily to the here he was, stepping deeper down the steps in a place he had once sworn he would never return to. Back to the worse memories of his life.

The caverns were practically empty, something, Malik considered a good thing. He all but hated the people down here, more than he hated the caverns themselves. They had all been so annoying with their zealous obsession about things that didn't matter in the slightest.

No, at the moment it was just him, Ryou and Bakura. All the other people who had once resided in these walls had left after the already not-so-important job of guarding the Pharaoh's secret became non-involved.

Malik was way into the underground own, and he could feel the heat increasing inside he could hear Ryou and his dark half, Bakura, talking. The large empty caverns tended to produce rather large echoes, no matter where you were. It was almost impossible to lose someone down here. Just follow the voices and you'll find them soon enough. Of course that tended to have its down side as much as its positives, but still.

Malik walked towards the sound of their voices. At least this time they weren't yelling like they had been for the last couple of weeks. Bakura and Ryou got on well enough most of the time, but for the rest of it they sounded like an old married couple. A lot of things had changed over the year between them; Ryou had learned to stand up for himself, while in turn Bakura had learned how…

How not to get himself possessed.

They even had a functioning relationship now, they just didn't always agree. And being locked in close corridors for an extended period of time was not helping their issues the end, Malik found his two white haired friends in one of the empty rooms towards the back of the underground. Without bothering to knock, Malik pushed up the plain hunk of wood that served as a makeshift door. Inside, the room was nothing short of a disaster.

It looked as if a bomb had gone off, and in the center of the mess was Bakura, sitting casually on a plain wooden chair with his legs kicked up onto one of the tables. Standing off to the side was the other side of his soul, Ryou. The latter was slowly working his way around the room, cleaning up papers, and stacking them in a neat pile beside one of Bakura's heavy boots.

Looking around the plain room, Malik noticed that the pair had been busy indeed. He didn't come down this far most of the time, trying to spend as little time down in the caverns as humanly possible. The last time he had walked all the way down here had been 3 weeks ago; at the time, the room had been so full of junk that it was non usable.

Apparently spending thousands of years deep underground led to a society of pack had decided that this room would be the easiest to clear since it was filled with the least stuff. Nevertheless, it had taken Ryou and Bakura hours to empty the room of its unneeded contents. Malik had laughed as Ryou had dragged a fighting Bakura into the mess, wishing them good look in their impossible job.

Now that he was back, Malik noticed that all the junk had been cleared out and replaced with an aged bookshelf containing a small selection of books and a scroll or two, as well as Bakura's table and chair.

Ryou's head perked up as he heard Malik enter the room. A small smile flit across the light's thin face and he raised his hand in a quick wave before heading over to the bookshelf.

"There you are! We were getting worried!" Ryou said, as he lifted Bakura's feet up off the wooden table and slipped one of the books under Bakura's feet so they were not resting on the wooden surface.

The latter's dark red eyes glared up his previously comfortable position was moved to suit Ryou's clean freak needs. "No Ryou, _you_ were worried_. I_ on the other hand am annoyed he's back."

"Bakura!" Ryou's pale hand stretched out, and a chuckle slipped through Malik's lips as it smacked Bakura over the head. "Play nicely!"

Bakura snorted distastefully, rolling his eyes. With a quick movement that Malik almost did not catch, Bakura swung himself from the desk, leaving his chair and landing elegantly on the rough flooring.

"You, my little tomb keeper, are an idiot." Bakura sneered as he lowered his face down to Malik's eye level. The latter blinked at the sudden appearance, tilting his head to the side quizzically.

"How so?" Malik asked, grabbing a piece of fruit from the bag he was carrying. Malik quickly pulled two of the fruits from the bunch, and threw one to Ryou before un-peeling his own. "You really need to be more specific when calling me an idiot Bakura, because you call me that at least twice a day. I never know if I've just annoyed you or seriously pissed you off."

The amber eyes of the thief started to glitter in amusement. "How much was the pop?" he asked snidely, nudging the brown paper bag with his foot. One of the red aluminium cans started to roll out of the top of the bag, before rolling back in as Bakura shifted his boot.A smirk spread across Malik's face, and he stopped down to grab his bag before side stepping around the thief and plunking down on the now empty seat. "Isn't that just the question of the day?" He replied, throwing one of the cokes to Ryou before cracking open his own. Carelessly, he kicked off his boats and slammed his feet onto the table.

Ryou caught the can, just stopping it before it hit in the face. Malik snickered slightly as he watched the light stare at the can suspiciously.

"Well Malik, are you going to answer my question?" Bakura asked, and Malik tilted his head to the side, before taking a long drink of the overly sweet liquid.

He shrugged, his lilac shirt folding up at the shoulders as it moved with its owner. "I have no idea, I didn't pay a thing. Mind control is so useful."

"Of course it's useful!" Bakura snapped, stalking over to where Malik sat, and ripping the coke from the teen's fingers. Malik tried to protest but Bakura just glared. With his other hand, Bakura grabbed the leather string that kept the Millenium ring around his neck, and lifted it to eye level. "For you and for everyone that is tracking you! Idiot. You could have led them right here!"

The silence in the room after Bakura's outburst quickly became awkward. Both Ryou and Bakura where staring at Malik now. Bakura was glaring angrily, as if debating whether or not to run the blond through with a knife, and Ryou looked like he wanted to shake his head and perhaps mutter something sarcastic.

"Yes, but I _didn't_ lead anyone here, so why do I care?" Malik asked, completely unaffected by Bakura's death glare. "Can I have my pop back? Yours is still in the bag, Bakura."

"Not a hope Malik, I want this one, so you can go get your own." Bakura sneered, taking a drink of the liquid, relishing the taste. After living on lukewarm water for so long, the drink seemed almost like heaven.

Almost.

"Next time, if you want to come up with a plan to get us killed, make sure that it's beer that you grab."

Malik laughed, grabbed another can and yet again cracked it open. "Liquor is more difficult to get a hold of. And while I would appreciate the challenge, would that not make your speech a little hypocritical?"

"Shut up Malik."

Ryou buried his face in his hands, moaning slightly into his open palm. "You guys are both idiots!" he said quietly, the words muffled slightly.

"Yeah, but you love us anyway."

Ryou's head lifted up again at the joking comment, and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Now that he was done with what little tidying he could possibly do in the messy room. Ryou moved to pull himself up onto the table.

"Fine then." Malik muttered, glaring at Ryou, but the look was marred by the humour in his eyes. "That hurt Ryou, It really did. I don't think I'm going to survive. My world is ending." Bakura laughed at this, and Ryou let out a small chuckle, covering his mouth with his hand politely as he tried to keep the undignified sound within himself.

There was no response to that statement, so they sat there for a few minutes, just the three of them, in silence. It was comfortable for once, not full of awkwardness or tension. Malik felt his eyes wander around the room, taking in the thick volumes that lined the bookshelf. They were big and heavy, covered in dust from years of disuse. Visible finger prints lined the spine, where either Bakura or Ryou had picked them up. Malik only recognized a couple of the titles, from his own time wandering these corridors, bored out of his of them seemed to be about tracking magic, if Malik's translating skills were anything to go by.

Mind you he wasn't really paying that much attention to what he was doing. But that would make sense; Bakura could use the Millennium ring to track down just about anything that had a strong sense of magic. However, what they were trying to track down was a long way away from their current location, so the thief (at Ryou's insistence) was trying to find someway to get around that fact.

Now that he was on that track, Malik realized that he was pretty far behind on updates as to what Bakura was doing down here. In fact he hadn't heard anything since they got here and Bakura had cleaned a big enough hole to start working in, leaving Ryou to do the rest of the work.

"How's it going down here?" the question echoed around the room as both the light and dark turned to Malik. Bakura moved slightly, going to stand beside the table Ryou was sitting on, leaning up against the wall and crossing his arms."Not well." Bakura said, finally, his words slow, carefully chosen. "Not well at all. Next time I see his little highness I am going to kick his scrawny ass as far as I can for this."Malik chuckled slightly, but the noise did not quiet reach his eyes, which remained as solemn as they had when he asked the question. "So you haven't been able to get a hold of anything? No signal at all?"

It was Ryou who answered this time, his voice rising up before Bakura had a chance to open his mouth. "No, not yet. We're starting to get worried. The ring picks up on Magical energies, right? That's how it finds the items, which radiate the stuff. But unlike the other items, the Puzzle needs to be in one piece for us to pick up on it."

Malik nodded, "Yes I knew that. Besides we figured that the puzzle had broken after Yami disappeared like that. I would have thought that you would have started to look for something else by now, as the puzzle signal isn't going to work.""We have been but it's too far a way to pick up a proper signal." Ryou said, a frown crossing his normally calm features.

"How does that work? Yugi's magical signature is as strong as the items, easily. After the Darks came back, his and your magic grew incredibly to keep up with them. It sounds odd that Bakura couldn't at least pick up a faint signal."

Ryou's face went from a frown to a quizzical expression. "I see your point. It should work…. I was wondering that too, but I wasn't sure. My other question though, was why Yugi has not solved the Puzzle by now. I'm sure that was a first priority for him."

"I don't think he can." Bakura said harshly. He hadn't spoken for a while, keeping to the wall he was currently backed up against. Now though, everyone's attention was on him and the normally uncaring thief looked serious, his expression dark.

"What are you talking about Bakura?" Ryou asked his voice low and hesitant as he stared at his dark. Malik could see the colour rapidly leaving the pale boy's skin, making it almost as white as his long hair. Although Malik was sure that his own colour wasn't much better.

Malik could feel his heart beating in his chest, and a cruel band wrap around his lungs as his mind started to connect the dots. His ears perked up as Ryou spoke however, waiting almost desperately for Bakura's answer. Malik didn't even know why he felt so anxious.

"Think about it Ryou. We don't know what happened to Yugi after he kicked us out of there. But we know that he was not the one in charge of the situation. _He let the Puzzle be shattered_, Ryou. Highness would not have let that happen to Yami unless he had no other choice. And judging by the fact he still hasn't solved the puzzle, and I haven't picked up his signature since then, I doubt that I'm going to be able to do so now. No matter how hard I try. It's over Ryou."

Ryou's brown eyes grew wider, as he slowly slid his way of the table, his feet landing light on the ground. His entire body was quivering. This wasn't the answer he had wanted to hear, that much was obvious. It wasn't the answer Malik had wanted either.

_It's over Ryou._

"You're joking." Ryou said the words shaky and unbalanced. "Please tell me you're joking. 'Kura please, this isn't funny."

_It's over Ryou._

Bakura sighed softly, running his fingers through his mane of white hair, pulling the bangs away from his face. "Ryou, do you honestly think I would be joking about something like this? Not now at least. You have to face the facts. Yugi's gone.... And he's not coming back."

_It's over..._

_Over..._

_It's over... Yugi's gone... It's over..._

_He's not coming back._

_It's over._

That was it for Ryou. Those brown eyes started to water, and his bottom lip started to shake as he stared blankly at his dark. Tears started to stream down his face, and the subtle shaking from before became more vigorous as it enveloped his entire body.

"Stop..." he whispered, but nobody heard the voice.

"The only thing we can do now is to get the Puzzle back, try and solve it. We can't leave it there. Once we have Yami back, well go and get some revenge, this won't stand."

"SHUT UP!"

A blur of white ran from the room as Ryou sprinted through the door. His footsteps echoed through the hallway, but not loudly enough to obscure Ryou's sobbing. Malik fought onto keep his own emoticons in check, but they where slowly threatening to overwhelm him. The only thing keeping him together right now was the years of training had been forced to endure. To keep his emoticons locked up.

Bakura sighed as he once again sat down in his chair, and picked up the pop that Ryou had thrown to the ground in his frenzy. The thief did not sprawl across the chair as he normally would have however. Instead, he sat, perfectly straight, staring out at wall with dulled eyes.

"That was well done." Malik growled slightly, moving to stand beside the thief and crossing his arms once more. "Really well done Bakura."

Amber eyes flashed dangerously as they turned to Malik's direction, and the tomb keeper

felt himself flinch under the force of the glare. "Shut up Malik." He said, his words, unintentionally echoing those of his distraught other.

"Why? After that little scene? You know you could have been a little gentler with Ryou about this. He doesn't respond well to this sort of thing, and there is no reason why he had to know."

Bakura growled slightly, standing up from his chair to hover over Malik. "You're the one that had to bring it up Malik, telling him that I should be able to pick up Yugi on the ring. Besides, Ryou should know just as well as the rest of us that this kind of thing happens. It's life, but he's gotten too used to those fairy tale endings, where the 'good guy' always wins."

"Whatever you say, Bakura." Malik said, pushing away from the spirit and walking towards the door. "You can sit here and work this out if you want. I'm going to go see if I can calm him down. Although I would recommend that you leave him alone until then."With that, the blonde was gone and Bakura was left in the now empty room, staring at the wall.

"DAMN IT!" He yelled to no one in particular, slamming his fist against the table and once again cursing the idiots who had gotten them stuck in this position, without anyway out of it


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, I'm back and far more quickly than I usually am too. I think I have figured out the typing with one hand thing.

Thanks for the support, it means alot. And thanks to Hannapat for beta-ing this for me.

* * *

Arthur ran to his front step as fast as he possibly could, and slamming the front door with alarming force behind him as he entered the sanctuary of his home. There he stood, in the middle of his dimly lit kitchen, panting heavily as he tried to regain his breath.

As his breathing slowed, Arthur ran a shaking hand over his face, both to wipe away the sweat on his forehead and to ensure that he had not splinchedhimself in his hasty apparition.

The art of disappearing in one place and reappearing in another was a testy process and took a large amount of concentration to do correctly. Often if it was done by someone who did not know what they were doing or by someone in a rush, it could have rather destructive results, including leaving body parts in the place you had just left: splinching.

It seemed however, that Arthur had managed to avoid such painful results. He had been in an indescribable rush when he had disapparated from his office that evening, desperate to get home to his family and to contact Professor Dumbledore. Normally, Arthur would not have disapparated home at all, for the loud noise tended to draw muggles (non magic-users) to the area. Apparently it sounded similar to a dangerous weapon that muggles often used.

Arthur looked around the dark kitchen. Seeing that it was empty, Arthur's breathing quickened for a moment in fear. It passed though, as he noticed the charmed pot scrubber washing a frying pan in the sink and a carefully covered plate of food that was left on the rough kitchen table for him. Arthur's mouth watered as the delicious smell washed over him, but he shook his head. Now was not the time to be worrying about food.

Arthur moved quickly through the bare doorframe at the other end of the house, and walked into the living room. A large fire was blazing in the brick fireplace, bathing the room in warmth and calmly flickering light.

On one of the couches in the room sat Molly. She was knitting by hand for once, a look of concentration and contentment on her plump face as she counted the stitches in the maroon wool.

At Molly's feet lay their youngest child, Ginny. She was flat on her stomach, a pack of Exploding Snap cards in front of her as she stacked them carefully into a card tower that stood over her head. Ginny's face looked even more intensely concentrated than her mother's—perhaps rightly so—as the tower she was building was capable of exploding at any given moment.

It was at moments like these that Arthur was surprised at how similar the women looked, despite Molly's brown hair and Ginny's red, and a few other distinct features their daughter had inherited from her father.

Looking around the room, Arthur stomach dropped as he released that Molly and Ginny where the only other people in the large room. None of his sons were currently staying at home; four of them were at school for the year, while the two eldest were both working abroad.

Molly looked up form her knitting and a small smile spread across her kind face as she set the wool and needles down on the couch. "There you are!" she exclaimed as her husband moved closer to the firelight. "I was getting worried about you. A little note saying 'I'm late' doesn't do much good, Arthur. I thought that at least made sen…"

Molly's affectionately mocking voice trailed off as she caught a glimpse of her husband's disturbed expression.

Molly stood up, the now-forgotten knitting spilling to the floor. Her eyes flashed to the only other occupant in the room, who was staring at her parents with a confused expression.

"Ginny, bed—now!"

Ginny's head lifted as she looked directly at her mother, still confused and curious about what had caused the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"But mom! You said I could stay up until 11:00! It's only 9:30." Ginny said, trying to win herself more time by playing the promise card. She wanted to know what was happening, and almost as important, her card tower was higher than she had ever gotten it, almost as tall as her brother had managed to get it before he had left for school two months ago.

Ginny met her mother's eyes, ready to fight her cause. Her parents were talking about something important, and Ginny wanted to know what. But when she finally met Molly's eyes, Ginny felt herself shrinking slightly away from her mother's severe look. Any argument that had previously been hanging on the tip of her tongue was now gone.

"Now Ginny!"

A small squeak slipped through Ginny's lips as she quickly pulled herself up from the ground, hastily grabbing her cards as she want. Her mother could be quite intimidating if she wanted to be.

Ginny looked over her shoulder at the living room door that had been shut behind knew there was little point in sitting outside the door to try and get information. Her mother had more than likely put a silencing charm on it before Ginny was even fully outside.

Shifting the cards in her hands into a easier to hold position, Ginny slowly made her way up the stairs, heading to her bedroom, and feeling none too happy about it. If only

Fred and George were still here, she thought. They would have come up with someway to listen in on what Mom and Dad where talking about!

But they weren't here, so Ginny would have to deal with not having any information. Maybe if she was lucky, Dad would be willing to explain this to her in the morning.

Her chances were slim, but it was good to be optimistic sometimes…

Molly slowly closed the door behind her as her daughter left the room. Carefully, she pulled out her wand and muttered a quick spell under her breath, placing a silencing charm on the plain wooden door.

She hated to do this to Ginny, but from the look on Arthur's face, this was going to be difficult enough to deal with without the presence of an impressionable 10 year old in the room.

When Molly journeyed back into the center of the room, she noticed that Arthur had not moved from his spot in the kitchen doorway. It was almost as if he was frozen solid, staring blankly at the fireplace.

Molly walked towards her shaken husband, and carefully led him over to the couch she had previously been sitting on. Arthur went with her without hesitation, but his only movement was to place one foot in front of the other.

Once her husband was seated on the couch, Molly reached over the side of the couch and grabbed the knitted Afghan she had finished a few weeks ago and draped it over his shoulders. She noticed happily that Arthur's hands went up to grab at the blanket and tug it closer around himself. That was something.

Sitting down beside her husband, Molly placed a hand on the square of his back, rubbing it in small comforting circles. The muscles felt incredibly tense under her hand, and she could feel each and every single knot that had formed under the skin during his time at work.

"Arthur, dear, what happened?"

The silence in the room was deafening. For a long moment they just sat on the couch together. Molly didn't press him after her original question. He would tell her when he was ready. That was all she could ask for.

Slowly, Arthur's breathing started to become more regular and he started to relax up against Molly. She smiled slightly some of the worry from earlier washed away; her husband was finally starting to return.

"I need to talk to Dumbledore."

It was the only thing that Arthur said, and it was not what Molly had been expecting.

So surprised was she that she whipped her head around in surprise at the sudden statement. The hand that was resting on Arthur's back moved slowly until it was resting on his chin, tilting Arthur's face to Molly's direction.

"Why?" Molly breathed, watching her husband's usually expressive face intently for any reaction. His eyes remained blank. He was shaking slightly, and his fists were clenched so tightly in his lap that Molly could see the whites of his knuckles showing through the skin.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" She pleaded. Arthur just shook his head, slowly standing up from the couch, and moving to the fire place. "I… I… it's hard to explain Molly, and I know I won't be able to do so twice. Fudge has done something that I didn't think he could ever do. He won't budge either… I…I… It was horrible, Molly, barbaric. I haven't seen anything like it since You-Know-Who, and to see it from our side…" Arthur broke off with a shudder, and for a moment Molly was afraid that he had closed himself off to her again, but he seemed to be alright for the moment.

Molly nodded as she too stood up. "Are you just going to talk to him from the fireplace, or are you going to head down to Hogwarts? Probably straight to Hogwarts. It takes far less floo powder, and I am sure that it's easier to talk to people when you're not getting ashes in your mouth. Should we bring something? It is pretty late to be going to visit someone, already 20:00. I know! If you wait a minute I will make a spot of tea for us to bring. That would seem more polite."

And with that she was gone, bustling into the kitchen. Arthur could hear the scrape of tea cups, and the sound of boiling water. He could wait for a second. Mind you, _could wait_ was not the best term to be used when dealing with his wife. Better to say he _would wait._

A chill ran up his spine as Arthur stood there, staring at the warm crackling fire in front of him. He held out his hands to the welcoming heat, letting it wash over him. That did little to help him however, as the cold feeling in his body refused to leave. It was odd to have one's body warm up, yet to feel so sick and cold on the inside. Even now, the thought of that teen screaming on that table came to mind. Arthur found himself having to force down another wave of nausea.

Slowly the impending feeling of being sick receded, although the image in his brain did not leave. The living room seemed to leave as Arthur saw the teen look at him again. Those fever-bright eyes drove into his skull, and with them came a wave of indescribable emotions, ones he did not and could not recognize as his own:

_Desperation._

_Possession._

_Devotion._

_Fear._

_Agony._

_Loneliness._

_Love…_

He was left with the sensation of anger: indescribably, impossibly intense fury. It filled up his entire body, leaving him numb to everything else as the boy's screams echoed through his mind, adding fuel to the fire. Suddenly that uncontrollable feeling of anger felt so right… more so than it ever had before.

"ARTHUR!"

Arthur blinked slightly, shaking his head as he looked around to the sudden shout in his ear. There, standing in front of him, was Molly, her expression concerned and confused as she looked up at him. "Arthur? Are you alright?"

"Sorry Molly, I must have zoned out slightly."

"More than just _slightly,_ Arthur. I've been yelling in your ear for a minute now."

Arthur blinked, thinking through Molly's words. That had to be exagerration. Yet everything that he had been feeling for the last couple of minutes had disappeared, leaving only a lingering sensation that they had existed in the first place.

"Arthur, dear? Are you sure that you are up to going tonight? I'm sure that whatever this is can wait until tomorrow."

"NO!"

Molly jumped back as Arthur's voice rose to an uncharacteristicly high volume. They had been married for years now, and never before had Molly seen her husband snap like that. It was startling to say the least. Arthur's chest was heaving as he stood in the middle of the room, and his eyes gleamed with a light that Molly had never seen before, something she didn't want to name.

Her husband seemed to be just as taken aback by the sudden outburst as she was. He blinked rapidly for a moment as he calmed down. His eyes seemed to lose that dangerous gleam, and instead grew wide in shock and surprise. "Molly… I'm so sorry." He breathed, shock evident in his voice. "I don't know what came over me. Why on earth did I snap like that?"

Molly just shook her head, charming the tray of tea and cookies to float to her side before walking to the fireplace and grabbing a decorated flower pot that stood on the mantle piece. The flickering light from the glowing fire shone onto the contents, reflecting on the powdery substance inside.

"No dear, don't worry about it. Whatever this is has obviously put you under a lot of stress and it was wrong of me to ask you to wait, since you're so worried." Even though it was a sincere apology from Molly's end, the words she used clearly stated that the conversation had just come to an end.

A quickly scrawled note was left for Ginny, magically attached to the doorway that Molly had un-charmed and unlocked. It told their daughter that they had to run to Hogwarts for a few minutes, and that they would be home as soon as they could.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood by the fire, Molly holding the flower pot in her grip.

"Here you go Arthur." she said, holding the pot out to her husband. "You'll have to take your hand out of your pocket dear."

Arthur looked down, noticing that his hand was indeed clenched tightly in the pocket of his slightly haggard-looking cloak. He didn't remember when he had even placed his hand there. Sheepishly, he pulled his hand out from the confines of his pocket, hearing a loud clinking sound as he did so.

Molly must have heard it to, as she looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. "Just a Knut in my pocket." Arthur said smoothly, patting his hand to his pocket with his hand to recreate the clinking noise. His pocket jingled again, and Molly nodded in agreement.

Arthur dug his hand into the flower pot, taking a small handful of the powder. As he lifted it up from the pot, some floo powder slipped from between his fingers like sand. Arthur paid it no heed however, instead throwing the substance into the fireplace

As soon as the substance hit the fire, the flames doubled shot up, filling the entire fireplace and turning a brilliant shade of green. No longer did the heat burn at their faces; instead, a gentle warmth started to caress their skin. Taking a deep breath, Arthur stepped past the mantle, and into the roaring green fire. He could hear the wood and ash crunch beneath his feet, and the smoke stung his eyes as he shouted

"Hogwarts, Dumbledore's office!"

A loud whoosh echoed throughout the room, and Arthur felt himself being lifted off the ground and into the air. He tucked his elbows in tightly as he entered the chimney and began to spin faster and faster. Lights whizzed past him so fast that he began to feel dizzy, and Arthur squeezed his eyes shut.

Eventually he started to slow down, and before he had entirely managed to stop spinning, Arthur lurched forward. He stumbled, unable to completely keep his footing after the sudden stop. The only reason he managed to stay on his feet was the fact their family used the floo network as major form of transportation. The ability to move from one fireplace to another was incredibly useful when half the family couldn't yet apparate.

When Arthur opened his eyes again, he found himself in the large circular office of the Hogwart's headmaster. As per usual the room was decorated with the portraits of the previous headmasters and mistress. At this hour, most of the paintings where sound asleep in their frames, their snoring the only audible sound in the room. Several of the portraits had awoken however; it seemed that Arthur's sudden arrival had jolted some of the lighter sleeping headmasters awake, and they were now staring at the new arrival with different levels of confusion, curiousity and amusement.

Arthur ignored them as he stepped into the cluttered room, leaving room for Molly to appear from the fire place behind him. As he waited, Arthur was able to look around the room, taking in the shelves of odd little trinkets and artifacts. The sorting hat still sat on the top shelf on one such shelf, as tattered as it had been when Arthur had been sorted into Gryffindor when he first arrived to Hogwarts.

Again Arthur found himself surveying the room, finding himself lost in the large, and rather memorable room. Even trying to classify half the objects in this room was a feat all on its own. Then, as Arthur found himself staring at the large phoenix that was staring at him from its perch by Albus' desk, that feeling of irritation came back at full force. Why was he just standing here when that teen needed him?

A loud roaring sound from the back of the room soon signified Molly's arrival, but Arthur paid his wife little head. Instead his eyes quickly searched for one of the portraits that he recognized.

"Professor Dippet!" Arthur yelled, looking straight at the portrait that was closest to Albus' chair. Dippet had been the headmaster when Arthur had gone to school. His shout quickly startled the slumbering professor awake, nearly causing him to fall out of the comfortable looking armchair he had been sleeping in.

"Whaa?" The elderly man said, lurching forward in an undignified manner as he tried to wake himself up. Arthur knew that it was late; that he should probably be more patient with the painting, but something was holding the rational part of him back at the moment.

"Professor! I need you to get Albus for me! It's an emergency!" He snapped at Dippet, watching as the aged man's face flickered from a half-awake stupor into concerned confusion. The previous headmaster did not ask any questions, or even give a greeting of any kind before he darted from the frame and disappeared, probably into another painting.

Molly was beside Arthur as soon as the painted man had disappeared. "That wasn't very polite dear." She breathed, setting the tea onto a wooden table. "He would have helped you just as well without the snapping. This isn't like you Arthur."

"I know Molly, and I'm sorry. I just feel on edge all of a sudden, like things cannot happen quickly enough."

Molly looked as if she wanted to say something in response, but before she was able to, the sound of a door slamming jolted all of their attention to the desk at the back of the room and the intricately carved door behind it.

Standing in the doorway was Albus Dumbledore in all his glory. His hair and beard were as long as Arthur remembered them to be, and those bright blue eyes still twinkled merrily behind half moon spectacles.

Slowly, Albus swept into his office, his deep purple robes trailing on the ground.

Arthur felt himself release a sigh of relief, realizing that the headmaster in no way looked as if he had just been dragged out of bed. He was till fully dressed, and wearing a pointed hat in the same colour of robes, stitched with an unrecognizable silver symbol.

Behind him entered Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, Minerva McGonagall. Her lips were set into a stern line, expression a deep contrast to the carefree look that Albus presented.

"Ah, Arthur, nice to see you. And Molly too, always a pleasure." Albus said, moving forward to take Molly's hand within his own and kiss the back of it lightly in an almost forgotten form of chivalry.

A large smile spread across Molly's face, Dumbledore's presence instantly lightening the mood. "It's nice to see you to Albus. I hope that we are not being a nuisance, calling on you at this time of night. I feel terribly guilty, but Arthur was determined to come and see you the moment he came home."

Albus chuckled, moving to his desk and sitting in the large, comfy looking wooden chair that stood behind it. "Not a worry my dear. Minerva and I were already up discussing the ban on fanged Frisbees. Something's are just too important to leave. So why don't I draw you all up a chair and we can enjoy that lovely tea that you brought? I must say that it smells absolutely exquisite."

With a flick of his wrist and a swish of his wand, three more chairs materialized. Molly instantly sunk into her own, feeling it rub against her arms and reveling in the soft material. She was incredibly comfortable.

Minerva sat down on Molly's right, as dignified as ever. Even as the thin woman sunk into the chairs cushions she managed to stay straight-backed and perfectly poised before pulling out her wand, and dragging the table with Molly's tea over in between them both.

Arthur refused to sit down in his own chair, choosing to stand stiffly off to the side, with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. At that moment, he didn't look like

Molly's husband in the slightest. It was as if he was another man entirely.

This did not go unnoticed by the other people in the room. One of Albus' eyebrows rose into his long white hair and Molly exchanged a concerned glance. Slowly, Albus leaned forward to rest his elbows against the desk, and lean his head against his open palm.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about Arthur?"

The Arthur's head turned to Albus, his back perfectly straight and his arms remaining crossed. Arthur's brown eyes flashed in the light, giving off a feeling almost similar to that of solid ice.

When he spoke, Molly was positive that she could feel the entire room freeze over. "I got a message from the Minister for Magic this evening, asking me to meet him in the Auror's office tonight after work. He said he had a job for me."

Albus nodded as Arthur's voice trailed off for a moment. His blue were focussed intently on Arthur's own and for a moment the room was silent, everyone watching as Arthur tried to find the correct words to describe what had happened.

"It was then that I was intruded to the new department that Fudge has set up within the Ministry. _United Protection_ he called it, and even after dealing with his extended bragging session, I have little to no idea as to what their original purpose was. Yet…"

Again Arthur paused, his mouth opening and closing quickly as he tried to speak. But the words just caught on his tongue, refusing to come out. How was he to describe what he had seen?

Arthur's fist clenched tightly. He could feel his finger nails cutting into the soft flesh of his palm. "I…" he said, tone containing nothing of its previous fire and vindication.

"They're… holding someone… someone they arrested, but kidnapped would be a far better word. And the things they…were doing…"

From there, Arthur knew that he could get no further, for even trying to say anything caused that anger to once again bubble in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly he was so livid that breathing became difficult.

_Why was he here, when he should be helping that child?_

Albus watched Arthur closely from behind his desk. It didn't take any skill to realize that something was wrong with the man. Every muscle in Arthur's body was as tight as a dragon heart string, and his left hand was clenched in his pocket, wrapped tightly around some small object. Not only that, but all the colour looked like it had long since left Arthur's face, turning his skin grey under all the freckles.

"Breathe, Arthur." Minerva said. Her voice was serious and clipped, as if she was speaking to a panicking student, but there was an underlying element of concern to it. She flicked her eyes over to Albus, the unspoken question hanging heavily in the air.

Albus winked to his deputy headmistress, showing that he had everything under control, before turning his attention back to the couple in front of him. Molly had left the chair, and was now standing beside her husband, rubbing her hand up and down his arm; whispering softly.

"Arthur, why don't we try something else?" Albus said calmly, trying not to aggravate the other man any more than necessary. Arthur's head whipped around so fast that several bones in his neck cracked in an unhealthy way.

The deep burrow between Arthur's eyebrows deepened as his scowl grew. "What do you mean by different?" he snapped dangerously. From over Arthur's shoulder, Albus could see the apologetic glance Molly sent their way, and the shrug showing that she had no idea what was going on.

Albus pressed on, "You remember my pensieve don't you? We could just put your memory of what you saw tonight inside, and it will show us what really happened." he said calmly, taking one last sip from his tea, before stepping up from his desk and opening the large cabinet pressed against one of the side walls.

Even though Albus blocked most of their view, Arthur could see the light blue glow that had erupted into the room when the door was open. Cautiously he walked to wards where Albus was standing, trying to figure out why he was being so hesitant about this. It was not the first time he had done this kind of thing with Albus, his pensieve being the perfect way to get the most accurate of retellings. Yet everything in Arthur's body was screaming at him not to trust anything that tampered with his mind.

_This part will have to be delicate._ Albus thought, reaching into his robe pocket to grab his wand. Arthur followed the movement closely, with all the appearance of a cornered lion: eyes wary, muscles tensed, and fingers twitching towards his own pocket. _Delicate in deed._

"Arthur, take a deep breath, and try to recall everything you saw with the Minister. Just focus on that, nothing else."

The voice edged at the very corner of Arthur's hearing and he tried to do what he was told, fighting the urge to refuse as the images resurfaced. When the events of the night were at the front of his mind, Arthur nodded to the headmaster.

Noting the movement, Albus placed his wand to the side of Arthur's head, pressing the tip through the hair until it rested on his scalp. Arthur twitched slightly at the contact, and his fists were clenched so tightly they shook. He managed to stay still thoguh, as Albus pulled the wand away, a single stream of silver thread attached to the end of it.

Pulling the wand and the string into the air in a delicate arch, Albus pulled the memory to the large stone basin that stood in the cabinet, pushing the it inside. The silver and blue material that was neither liquid nor gas swirled as the new memory was introduced to those already inside. The string shifted inside trying to mix itself in with all the other memories, and as it did, the material changed, taking the form of the white walls of the united protection agency.

Bile rose into Arthur's throat as he watched the events of the evening once more. All the people Fudge had dragged into his United Protection program. The large office, highest of technology. Those men laying prone on their beds, either soulless, or left in a permanent nightmare. Then the child.

Arthur couldn't watch anymore at this piont, and he tore his eyes away from the pensieve**. **From the side he noticed that Minerva had gone pale, and her expression had finally shifted from stern indifference to shocked revulsion. As the teen's scream echoed around the room, Molly let out a loud echoing sob from Arthur's other side. Tears had started to gather beneath her eyes.

Reaching out, Arthur grabbed Molly's shoulder, pulling her into a comforting one-armed hug. It was something the woman obviously needed, and Molly complied instantly. That's when Arthur looked back, staring at the captive teen as his back arced against the hard table he was tied to. The poor child was screaming as if there was no tomorrow. Right then, Arthur wanted to kick that stupid basin off the cabinet, spill its contents onto the floor. He wanted to fight something, hurt something! Make someone pay for the atrocity that he had witnessed.

The image in the basin faded to black.

Everyone stood in shock as Arthur's memory suddenly disappeared into the inky abyss. Even Albus appeared surprised as he stared at his pensieve with a quirked eyebrow.

The new black shade seemed to be more than just a colour, however. It seemed almost to be alive, trying to reach out to the edge of the basin, and spill over to the floor.

Mixed with purple and blue, it struggled, and for a moment seemed to reach over the top and grab out at Arthur. Arthur just stood there, staring ahead. His eyes seemed to have taken on a red glow.

Albus whipped out his wand, pointing it at the cabinet door and slamming it shut. The doors closed instantly, shutting down the magic of the pensieve and in turn anything that was trying to get out of it.

Arthur blinked as the door was closed, and Molly squeaked slightly as the arm around her tightened to a painful level. He looked at his wife for a minute, before stepping away from Molly as if he had been burnt.

It was then that Albus noticed Arthur's hand was pressed tightly into his pocket. He was clutching something that seemed to be wider than his wand. By now, Arthur had walked back into the corner of the room, keeping his back to the wall.

"What the?!" Minerva said, jumping away from where Arthur stood and staring at the man. It almost seemed as if the shadows cast by the firelight had started to sweep at Arthur's feet and were now dancing at his boots.

It was then that Albus took action, the merry look gone from his eyes. He pointed his wand at Arthur's chest as the latter looked up, giving them all a wicked looking smirk with his now blood red eyes.

"ACCIO!" Albus yelled, pointing his wand at Arthur's left pocket, causing the material to rip as whatever was in Arthur's pocket was dragged out. Arthur let a yell in surprise and stumbled back, landing on his rump in the corner.

The object flew into Albus' hand, and he changed the spell causing it to hang in mid air. A single gold puzzle piece hovered in the air, glowing brightly even though there was not enough light to catch on the entirety of the smooth metal. In the center, a stylized eye was carved delicately into the metal. It seemed to stare at them as it revolved slowly. It was highly unnerving.

Albus slowly lowered the piece of metal onto the wooden surface of his desk, where it landed with a light clank. The golden glow still had not left the puzzle piece, but it seemed to be dimming slowly, which was definitely a good thing.

"Arthur, where did you get this from?" Albus' tone was sharp, and Arthur looked up from one of the chairs which his wife had forced him into. It took a few minutes for him to respond, and when he did his voice was slow and exhausted.

"It's one of the objects that Fudge brought me in to look at," Arthur sighed, but smiled in a comforting manner as Molly placed a hand on his shoulder in worry. Shifting, Arthur moved his own hand over top, giving Molly's a gentle squeeze. "A broken puzzle and a deck of cards. But how this got into my pocket I don't know, because I certainly don't remember taking it."

Albus nodded before sitting down in his own wooden chair, staring at the puzzle piece on his desk with an odd look in his eyes. "No Arthur, I don't suppose that you would. This isn't your fault. Whatever this item is apart of, must be incredibly powerful, seeing as this little piece was able to alter your mind so much. I can see why Cornelius is so interested in this and its owner. As you would say, I do hope the man is smart enough not to trust something whose brain can't be seen."

"What do you suppose we should do, Albus?" Minerva asked from the elderly wizard's shoulder. "Are we going to take that poor boy away from Fudge, or are you going to tell us that it is far to dangerous?"

Turning his head to look at his professor, the twinkle once again reappeared in Albus' features. "My dear Minerva, you know just as well as I, that if I were to say _no_ to helping this boy the three of you would jump me. No, I think that we shall go and pay the Ministry of Magic a visit. And as for the puzzle piece, well…we will deal with that problem when we can. Besides, I would like to look at this device a little closer."


	5. Chapter 5

A slow stream of blood trickled down the corner of Yugi's pale chin as the boy groaned softly. He huddled against the cool wall of whatever place he had been roughly dumped into, trying to retain what little warmth he could. There was no real way to tell where he was anymore, not that he had been sure of his location in the first place. Exhausted as he was, Yugi couldn't even bring himself to open his eyes anymore, and even small movements caused his breath to catch in his throat.

Yugi had no idea what was going him. All he knew was that for the first time in week he had been removed from that harsh metal table, hands tied behind his back and dragged off somewhere unknown.His new holding area seemed to be an extremely small room, about the size of a small closet. If Yugi were to lean over even slightly in any direction, he would collide with a wall long before he crashed into the floor. Even if there had been room to move, Yugi doubted that he could have; he barely had the energy to hold himself up anymore.

There was no light shining through the thin layer of skin that covered Yugi's sensitive eyes; the room was pitch black. The air tasted stale and musty on his tongue, leaving Yugi to wonder how long it would be before he ran out of air to breath. Was that even a possibility? Or was he just being paranoid?

The feeling of claustrophobia slowly washed over Yugi in suffocating waves. He had never been particularly keen on enclosed places, especially after his ordeal as a prisoner of the Leviathan. A harsh shudder ran down Yugi's spine, he could feel a steely know forming in his stomach. Through the pain and fatigue, Yugi attempted to fight off the debilitating sensations, to shove them away from his mind the way Yami had taught him.

Yugi desperately wanted to bring his knees up to his chest, to wrap his arms around himself in some pitiful attempt at comfort. Yet even this was a luxury he didn't have anymore; too weak to create the shift his legs, and arms bound far too tight to move, Yugi found himself unable to shift to a more comfortable position. He tried anyway, struggling with what energy he had left in order to try and move, but he soon slumped sideways, too fatigued to continue. He momentarily considered trying to sit back up, to show some dignity when the wizards inevitably came back for him, but dismissed the idea. The cool surface of the smooth wall felt pleasant against Yugi's burning skin, and he relished in the soothing sensation. Yugi pressed himself into the corner, allowing his thin, worn body to fill that small space.

Distantly, Yugi realized that he could hear loud voices and footsteps somewhere near his room. pounding footsteps going past. They didn't seem to have anything to do with him at the moment however, so he returned to ignoring them. As his mind slowly started to leave his aching body, Yugi's shaky thoughts began wandering in a slightly different direction: something in Minister's plans had changed. Something was throwing the man completely out of whack, hindering his ability to interrogate Yugi. Even through the disabling collar strapped around his throat, Yugi could feel the waves of frustration, impatience, anger, and recently fear, all coming from the leader of his captors.

Yugi realized he could also feel the faint presence of someone new nearby. Were they responsible for the wizards; frantic behaviour? Yugi began to wonder who they were, this person who was able to put minister in such and emotional frenzy. Perhaps the Minister didn't want this new person to know about their prisoner. Of course that only raised more questions.

At first Yugi let himself be a little hopeful about this new development. Maybe it was his friends coming to the rescue, the shattered Millennium puzzle in hand. Maybe this ordeal would end like others had in the past, with Yugi and his friends facing triumphing over evil together.

Eventually he sobered as he remembered the great lengths he had taken to to make sure none of his friends would be able to find him. He couldn't let them come, not when Minister would do anything to get a hold of them. Their safety meant more to Yugi than his own well-being, so much so, that he had been the force that had separated himself from his family and friends in the first place. Despite his conviction though, he still couldn't escape from the looks on their faces when he was taken, especially the look of his own dark half—the anguished look on his face had hurt Yugi's very being.

Unwanted tears began streaming down Yugi's face, unhindered by his closed eyes. He could still hear Yami's half-crazed shouts and see the frantic look in his crimson eyes. The way he had clawed against Bakura's restraining arms, drawing rivers of blood from the tomb robbers skin—

Yugi forced himself to stop and clear his mind. He needed to dwelling on his memories before they drove him insane. He began casting about for a new topic of thought and, after a brief pause, found one: when on earth had Ryou, Malik and Bakura come to be considered a part of his family? Or even his friends? Two out of the three had tried to kill him, both coming uncomfortably close to succeeding.

And yet somehow, things had changed between them. Of course, many things had changed after the ceremonial duel.

For one thing, they had all come to more fully understand what it meant to be a bearer of one of the Millennium items and just how closely they where interconnected, in a way that none of them had before.

His friends were great of course. Jounouchi, Anzu and Honda were family in his eyes, and they followed him through to the very end. Even for those exceedingly dangerous "save the world from yet another vengeance/world domination plot" that no friend should ever have to deal with, they stuck it through.

But with the others it was...different. When the desire for something lost became unbearable it was obvious something had changed, and when the Darks returned, and both Malik and Ryou had shown up on the Kame Game Shop door step, Yugi came to realize how much he had begun to crave the company of someone who understood what he was going through. What it was like to have an item, or to have split your mind with another thinking entity that was still, in essence, you.

Yugi ran his tongue over his dry and cracked lips, tasting the salty tang of the blood there. His throat was burning again, and the motion only brought his aches and pains back into the forefront of his mind.

As Yugi sat there in his cramped, dark room, he decided to use his brief moment of peace to try and regain some of what he had lost. Whatever had thrown Minister's plans so out of the loop had, for the time being, halted his plans to finally break through Yugi's defences, something that had scared Yugi more than anything else these Wizards had done to him before.

Now, under whose graces Yugi did not know, he had time to rebuild his shields, to restore the cracks in his soul room door and maybe keep Minister out for another day. It wouldn't do him any good of course—he was just running on borrowed time—but at least he would go down fighting. With that final thought, Yugi let his consciousness float gently down to his soul room, all the while fighting through the pain of the foreign hunk of metal around his neck.

And as he sunk down into the depths of his, Yugi didn't hear the door bang open.

/

"Molly, I want you and Arthur to return home tonight." Albus said as he, Minerva, Molly and Arthur walked away from the Hogwarts castle towards the edge of the school grounds and, by nature, the wards that prevented apparition to and from the school.

Molly nodded in agreement as she shifted the arm she had around her half-dozing husband, trying to get him awake enough to hear the conversation. Once they had removed the puzzle piece from Arthur's possession, the man had started to fall asleep almost immediately. "Are you sure that you don't want us to come?" Arthur asked, his voice slow and quiet. "I mean, I know I'm tired and all. But I know where everything is in that place. It would be easier"

"Yes, it would most likely be easier, but it would also be more difficult. You would lose your job in a heartbeat if Cornelius realized that you had told me about his actions. No, I think that it would be best if you went home, took out your best night cap and slept in until noon tomorrow."

Arthur meant to open his mouth again, but stopped when Molly elbowed him in the ribs. "Of course Albus, don't worry. I'll make sure that he doesn't get out of bed for the next little while."

Albus nodded his head, tilting his hat to the motherly witch and flashing her a toothy smile. "I bid you good luck then Molly, and make sure that you get some sleep also. Now go home."

Tightening her grip on Arthur's waist, Molly said goodbye to Minerva and Albus before turning on her heel, and disappearing with a loud snap, leaving only empty air in the place that the Weasley's had previously occupied. The only indication that they had even been there in the first place was the grass that had been pressed down beneath the heavy tread of their shoes.

Reaching into his breast pocket, Albus removed an engraved gold pocket watch attached to a delicate chain. Planets revolved around the edge in their own pattern as Albus stared at the surface. The markings on its face would have been indecipherable to any muggle (and most wizards) and any who did happen to look upon it would undoubtedly be left wondering just what kind of nut case created it in the first place. Nevertheless, Albus seemed to be understand it perfectly be after a few seconds he snapped it shut and returned it to his pocket.

Minerva glanced at him. "I am coming, Albus. You tend to be far too nice when it comes to Fudge, when most of the time all he needs is a good smack on the head." A low chuckle filled the night air.

"Maybe you're right my dear, but in any case, I think I will leave the smacking to you." Albus said, nodding knowledgeably. "But I do believe that it is time for us to go. If we want to be back in time for breakfast, that is."

Before Minerva could get another response in, Albus gripped the edges of the long purple cloak he had thrown on before leaving, turned on his heel and disappeared with the usual loud _crack!_ that made disapparating such a nuisance.

Barely a breath passed before Minerva did the same, concentrating on her magic like she would with a wand and turning on the spot. Suddenly she lurched forward and the world started to crush down upon her body, squeezing her into the odd subspace that disapparating used. It was a smothering pressure, pounding in her skull and squeezing her lungs like a vice.

Just when she felt she could last no longer, Minerva found herself standing in the middle of the main entrance of the Ministry of Magic. Water rushed down from the huge fountain in the middle of the room, echoing around in the empty area. They were completely alone, as most people had gone home for the night.

Dumbledore was already walking down the halls, his boots clanking loudly on the metal floor as he went. Minerva moved to follow, staying a few steps behind. The security desk in the back was empty; obviously the Ministry had no problems with after hour visitors.

_Fudge should be in his office, according to what Arthur had said before we left the Hogwarts grounds. I doubt he's left his office at all in the last couple of weeks. We were all wondering why, but I guess the reason is obvious now._

This meeting was not going to be a long one. Minerva knew that she did not have the patience to deal with the Minister, not after what she had seen. Right now, only years of dealing with school-aged teenagers was keeping her in control of her emotions. Even so, it was hard to keep her anger from showing on her face.

Cornelius was sitting at his desk when Dumbledore and Minerva entered. There were large bags clearly visible under his eyes as he sat at his desk, pouring over a large scroll. A quill was grasped roughly in his hand, twitching slightly as it was brought down to scrawl his signature at the bottom of the parchment.

Dumbledore knocked on the surface of Cornelius's open door. Fudge jumped up at the sound, nearly knocking over a large mug of tea that was standing by the tower of papers beside his hand.

"Dumbledore!" Cornelius gasped, standing up in surprise.

"Evening Cornelius." Albus said conversationally, pulling up one of the chairs in front of Fudge's desk. It was obvious that Albus wanted to keep this conversation light in order to gently urge Cornelius into revealing what was going on within the bowels of the Ministry. Minerva bit her tongue to suppress her own desire in how this should be handled. Albus knew what he was doing. "So sorry about visiting you so late at night, but a little bird told me that you would be up, and I was having non a luck at sleeping. So I decided to come visiting."

Sitting back down unto his chair, Cornelius pushed aside the papers on his desk so he could better look at his guests. "Yes, yes, of course. I completely understand. Although I have to say that my lack of sleep comes from all this work that keeps piling up. I swear on Merlin's beard that there will never be enough time in the day."

Albus smiled, but there was little humour left in his blue eyes. Minerva blinked nervously, wondering what Albus was about to do.

"There have been some rather... _interesting_ rumours going around lately, Cornelius." Dumbledore began softly, his voice low and hushed. Cornelius paled slightly, but kept his composure. Minerva could see the man's fingers twitch towards the hat sitting on the hook beside his desk. "Rumours that you have made an addition on to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Yes. The United Protection Office. It was supposed to be under wraps until the press conference tomorrow. Although, I suppose no attempt at secrecy would stop you from finding out about this, would it?"

The corners of Albus' face lifted up in a smile, but it didn't last long. "No, I suppose not. I have many connections, and many of them are not even aware that they are one of them. However this is a serious matter. I need to know what is going on within the Ministry of Magic. It would not be wise to keep me in the dark, Minister."

Cornelius shrank back slightly, fingers twitching slightly on the table. They reached for his hat, before changing direction at the last second to grab his quill, and the next sheet of paper from his pile.

"There isn't much to know, Albus. It's a new department, they haven't seen any action, and I doubt they will for a couple months yet." Fudge said smoothly, scribbling down on the piece of parchment before pulling another down to his level. "Now, if you will excuse me, my work load is not getting any smaller, and I sincerely doubt I will make a good host with my nose buried under this mountain."

"Do not avoid my question Minister. You and I both know that there is more to it than that. Now I will ask again: what are you up to?"

Albus' blue eyes steeled, staring deep into Cornelius's face. The Minister held his gaze for a few minutes before shivering, and grabbing onto the next piece of parchment. Albus' hand reached out, preventing the Minister of Magic from pulling the next piece down.

"Cornelius, I am waiting."

With a sigh, Cornelius placed his quill back on the desk and pulled away from the wooden surface. Looking troubled, he stood. "Alright Albus. Let's go see the United Protection Office, and you can tell me just who on my team is your oblivious spy." Cornelius said, grabbing his bowler hat and placing it on his head.

Nodding in agreement, Albus walked from the office, with Fudge taking the lead and Minerva at his heels. As a group they walked down the eerily silent hallway past the different departments and doors until they reached the end of the hall, something easily recognized as the Auror Offices, with an extra door in addition.

Without waiting for permission, Albus walked through the new door without so much as pausing to look at what would have been under any other circumstances beautiful, design of the United Protection. Minerva followed a few steps behind, but unlike her headmaster, her head swivelled back and forth as she tried to absorb the sight. But, aside from the unusually lavish design, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

The Minister remained silent as they walked, despite clearly looking like he wanted to speak. Cornelius was a proud man and loved to show off when he could. It was lucky really, Minerva supposed, since that pride was one of the factors that had brought him to office in the first place. But for whatever reason, he was dead silent now.

At the end of the hall was a large laboratory, empty but for a large metal table. The table was immaculately clean, but marred by brutal scars and dents. _The only thing that could leave marks like that_, Minerva summarized grimly, _would be spell shocks._

"Well that's the end of it." Cornelius said, spreading his arms wide, to add sharp relief to the very solid brick wall that stood behind him. There was nothing else; apparently their mission had been a failure. Cornelius must have already hidden the child elsewhere, presumably after Arthur had left. He must have known that Arthur would go straight to Dumbledore once he found out about their prisoner.

Fudge could not have had the time however, to get his captive very far. Not unless he had used apparition to transport the unfortunate child from here into someone else's hands. Luckily, that didn't seem like something Cornelius would do. The Minister would not allow his precious prisoner to escape that easily; he would want to keep the child on hand, within grasp. As a prize, if nothing else.

"Where...?" Her question was low and quiet. Slowly Minerva's eyes searched Albus' face, directing her question through that more than just her voice.

It was, however, her voice that Cornelius heard. "Where what?" he asked, his tone sickeningly polite. It was the sort of voice a person uses when politeness is only seen as an obligation, nothing more. "Do you think that we're missing something down here? Unfortunately, most of these plans were drawn up in a bit of a rush, so it is a possibility."

_There he goes again, _Minerva thought, looking at Cornelius through the corner of her eyes._ Cornelius knows that we aren't going to find him... Now what?_

Albus was not paying attention to any of this, however. Instead, he was staring at the brick wall in front of him. The elderly man's head was tilted to one side, a quizzical expression on his face. "Now what do we have here?" Albus asked, before pulling out his wand from the depths of his pocket, and tapping it against the wall.

The wall lurched and shuttered against the force of Albus' magic, before an opening formed, starting above the headmaster's head and rushing downwards to form a door.

/

At first it was easy to ignore the sound of footsteps and raised voices that echoed outside in the hall. No matter how angry they must have sounded, only the most muffled of echoes could be heard through the heavy walls of the room Yugi was in and they were certainly not enough to wake the teen from his well needed rest. So deeply unconscious was he that he didn't even react to the sound of brick and metal slamming harshly against the walls of his cell.

In the end it was the bright light filling the previously dark room that awoke Yugi. It startled him so much in fact, that for the first time in hours, Yugi's eyes snapped open. The rush of adrenaline following his sudden awakening was just enough to keep them open, even though the harsh light burned his sensitive eyes. Through bleary eyes, Yugi could just make out splotches of colour that filled his vision. Reds, blues, greens and blacks covered most of what little Yugi could see, leaving it so he could only make out vague blotches and a whole lot of white.

Eventually however, Yugi's eyes adjusted to the bright light, and slowly he was able to make out the forms of two or three people who were standing in the narrow doorway. Yugi's eyes narrowed even more then they had previously from the light, his heart sinking. It was the Minister, and he looked extremely angry about something. His face was a vivid shade of red, eyes bloodshot, and lips quivering as if he was holding back the urge to yell.

The woman beside him looked no better. Her entire body was shaking, and her dark eyes looked colder than ice. Yugi shuddered slightly at the look, sensing the revulsion and poorly concealed hatred that was held in those depths. Her fists were clenching and un-clenching rapidly as she stared at Yugi. He braced himself, waiting for a slap, an attack—another bruise to add to his already impressive collection.

But she only stared at him, unmoving.

Why had Minister brought this woman? What was she here to do?

"Minster! Are you insane!" The woman's shrill voice cut through the tense silence, quickly shattering Yugi's focus. Tilting his head up in surprise, Yugi could only watch in amazement as that look of hatred shifted into remorse and horror. "What in Merlin's name gives you the right to treat anyone like this?" she all but yelled, glaring at minister with a force that Yugi had not been expecting. It seemed as if the hatred had not been directed to himself, as Yugi had suspected... but at Minister?

What was going on?

"It's a dangerous creature, Professor . I cannot in good conscious allow it to remain out on the streets." Fudge hissed his voice taking on a low, venomous tone similar to the one Yami's did when he was angry. Despite the resemblance however, Yugi noticed in grim satisfaction that the tone was no where near as intimidating as that of his dark half. The minister looked more flustered than dangerous at the moment. His apparent nervous habit of playing with his bowler hat wasn't helping either. Some people just weren't born to lead, he supposed. It was unfortunate that it was one of those people that these wizards had chosen to follow. Or at least, some wizards.

"A creature! He's a human being, Minster! You can't treat him like this!" Minerva said, her voice rising to such a level that it could officially be considered a yell. In her anger, Minerva reached out to find something to ground herself, to control her dangerously raging emotions. Her shaking hand touched, in what was surely meant to be a comforting gesture, Yugi's shoulder. Yet, with a mix of shock and fear, Yugi jerked back from the contact, pressing himself even further back into the corner. "Look at the child. He's scared out of his mind!"

"Or faking it!" Fudge yelled back, his face an impressive shade of red. "We are not releasing this thing until we have deemed that it is safe to do so." He growled "That… it...is dangerous! And what if there are more? We have to get rid of these monstrosities, and this one is a single session away from being the link that leads us to the rest of them."

.

"No!" Minerva growled out from between clenched teeth, moving to stand directly in front of Yugi, glaring at the Minister for Magic head on. Without a second thought, she had placed her body in front of Yugi's own, something that Yugi was far too familiar with. She was protecting him, using her own body as a shield, the same way Yami would have."I refuse to let this child become some object for your examination Minister. He has rights, and has done nothing wrong."

Cornelius snorted. "Nothing wrong?" he asked darkly "You have not seen the devastation this boy has caused. You weren't there when he was brought in."

"I am well aware of what this child is capable of Minister. However, any of us would have fought back, if we were suddenly assaulted. You wouldn't send a person to Azkaban if they killed a Death Eater who was trying to attack them. And that's all you're doing here, except that you're touchy about the fact that it was your people that initiated the situation."

Cornelius's mouth opened and closed a few times as he stared at the woman in front of him. In return Minerva's face was all but frozen solid, waiting for Fudge to speak again. Or perhaps simply to see if he was brave enough to do so.

It was at that moment that Albus took the opportunity to finally join in on their conversation. "Cornelius, as much as I do see your point, Minerva is quite correct. You do not have the right to apprehend or detain a non-wizard, especially one that is not from your own country." Albus said calmly, ever the voice of reason in their heated exchange.

"So you want me to just release him? I already said that I cannot" Fudge replied. Before he could continue however, Albus held up his hand, quieting Cornelius immediately. "Then I propose a compromise: hand the boy over to me. He would be under my direct supervision and Hogwarts is far away from any and major muggle or wizard sites, so all parties can be kept safe and healthy."

It was obvious that Fudge was not keen on the idea, and if he had been speaking to any other wizard in the world, he would have continued his fight to keep hold of his captive. But he had known Albus Dumbledore long enough to know that arguing with the elderly wizard would be a waste of his time.

The only thing Fudge could do now was cut his losses, and get one last hit in before the final bell.

"Alright Dumbledore, I'll agree to your terms, on one condition: the conductor stays here."

"_No_!" Yugi's voice called from the back of the room, with more force then it had had for a long time. His eyes grew wide, and he tried to stand on his feet. Even with his new, frantic energy, he wobbled perilously, eventually leaning over against the wall for support.

Everyone's head whipped around at the voice as if just remembering that the adolescent was even there. Fudge paled, the colour leaving his face in a dramatic rush, when he saw his carefully contained prisoner on it's feet. Subconsciously, the Minister of Magic took a step back, away from the puzzle bearer, even as Minerva took a step forward, ready to help steady the teen.

Yugi's fingers clenched beneath the bonds around his wrists. He felt angry, scared. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be home, but most importantly, he wanted the puzzle. The emotions that Yugi had diligently kept in check to protect those around him, the ones he ignored in place of light hearted smiles, the ones he cut off to maintain his role of a hikari, surged inside him like liquid magma, impossible to contain, or hold back. They rushed through his body to his very core, searching for an outlet.

He wanted the puzzle.

Outlet found.

Oblivious to the change in Yugi, Minerva reached out to put her hand on hiss shoulder, to help the teen stand up. Yet as soon as her hand made contact, it leapt away as if shocked. Minerva cradled her hand to her chest; it felt as if it had just been burnt.

Cornelius looked to be about one step away from bolting out of the room. The only thing that was keeping him grounded at the moment was the knowledge of how much face he would lose if he ran. As the creature approached him, its eyes shifted from warm amethyst to iridescent silver. The colour seemed to bleed past the iris, covering the rest of the eye in an eerie glow.

The muscles in Yugi's arms flexed and strained, responding to his magic as it coiled under his skin. He was no longer Yugi at that moment; he was too far gone into his magic's desires to remember anything about himself. Personality, memories, morals... all were sucked into a substance more deep than the darkest of black. It was the lightest of whites, the magic of nothing and the unnamed. It was far worse than simple darkness, or of death, for light magic had the power to erase a very being from existence, leaving no trace. There would be no hope of even an afterlife.

If Yugi was to attack anyone of the people here, he would leave them with no chance of reincarnation, of any idea of heaven, or any hell. Nothing. No trace, for their soul would be instantly destroyed. Not shattered, not broken... Destroyed.

And right now, Yugi didn't even have the capacity to care. The puzzle was the only thing that mattered, the only driving desire he had left.

Light that was streaming from Yugi's body now, seeming to form his very essence. It spread across the room, dazzling everyone as the glow reflected unnaturally from the walls. They were all forced to shut their eyes against the burning glare.

Yet that was the least of their problems. The metal bands surrounding Yugi's wrists separated with a loud snap, allowing his arms to swing bonelessly to his sides. Those disturbing eyes flickered down to his arms for a brief second, considering them detachedly, as if they weren't part of his body. No emotion crossed Yugi's face, as it tilted to the side, staring up at the person who had caused him so much harm.

Here was the man who had taken everything from him, his love, his life, the darkness that would have stopped him from ever reaching this point. He needed his yami, _and this man_, the barely restrained light whispered, _was the last barrier separating them._

Yugi took a step forward, light twining around his arms as he slowly walked towards Minister. His face portraying nothing of his intent, but still the Minister stepped back, stumbling over his feet in an attempt to get away.

"_I want the puzzle back._" Yugi's voice was unlike anything that the wizards had heard before. Completely devoid of emotion, it sent chills down their spine in a way that no amount of anger or hatred ever could. Yugi held out his hand expectantly to Fudge, as if expecting the man to drop what he wanted there. The streams of light danced at his finger tips, reaching out to Minister.

With a shaking hand, Fudge's hand dipped into his pocket. Yugi's eyes followed the motion intently, and nodded when the hand slipped inside. "_Give it to me, the puzzle is mine, I want it."_

Fudge nodded his head, the movement quick and shaky. He dug deeper into his pocket, grasping for whatever it was he was looking for. Slowly he pulled his hand out, clutching something tightly inside his palm.

"_Puzzle."_

Yugi all but whispered the word, stepping forward and extending his hand forward. Cornelius moved towards him, holding his own arm out, opening his fist to show what was inside, before tilting his wrist to reveal his wand, pointed directly at Yugi's throat.

At first, nothing happened. Yugi just stood there, hand outstretched, waiting. Yet after a few moments, the muscles in Yugi's face started to twitch and flex, and his arms started to stretch up towards the collar around his neck.

Suddenly, with a hoarse cry of pain, Yugi fell to his knees. Palms flat against the ground as he gasped as the pain threatened to overwhelm him, stretching past what his magic could contend with. Both sensations threatened to overwhelm Yugi for what felt like centuries. The lights that had surrounded

Yugi's skin disappeared slowly, as if being drawn back into the collar. Shuddering, Yugi's knees finally gave out, and he slumped to the ground, before curling up into the fetal position, clutching desperately at the collar as if trying to rip it from his flesh.

Cornelius jerked his wand towards Yugi again, he began screaming. His hands fell away from his neck as his arms grew limp. Soon after, his body started to thrash on the ground as the light dimmed from the eyes, the silver film disappearing to be replaced with dull violet. Then, even that was gone as Yugi's eyes closed.

Wasting no time, Cornelius quickly bound Yugi's arms behind his back with a quick incantation. The boy's arms jerked back in such a way that Minerva could have sworn she heard his shoulders pop. Cornelius took a step back after this, pale and shaking as he stepped away and back towards the wall. A large gasp of air, slipped through his lungs, before looking back to Minerva and Albus expectantly.

Minerva's face was shocked and drawn as she stared, eyes wide at the boy laying prone at her feet. She felt paralyzed at that moment, too nauseous to even move. Her eyes flicked from the boy, to Fudge and then back again. Minerva felt her mouth open and snap shut, anything she could say catching in her throat. "Oh, my god" she finally managed to force out. The muggle saying seemed to be the only thing that appropriate at the moment.

For that moment, all she could do was stand there, unable to voice anything that she was thinking. There was no word to describe it. No glare could give any justice to her feelings to Cornelius right now. And no amount of time could allow her to understand what that child had just done.

The expression on Cornelius's face grew smug, feeling that that demonstration had proved his point. Maybe it had. "That thing is far too dangerous be on his own. I am willing to agree to let you take him from Ministry headquarters only because I trust you Albus. But I am not going to give it something to amplify its power. I am not an idiot."

"I'm not sure I agree with your theory Minister." Albus said softly, his expression quizzical. Both Cornelius and Minerva turned to look at him, obviously curious about what the aged wizard had to say. "Desperation can amplify power in ways impossible to measure. I doubt under any other circumstances this boy would have used so much of his magic, conductor or not."

Cornelius face paled visibly. Now it was Minerva's turn to smirk as she gracefully draped her cloak over Yugi's thin shoulders. "So we are going to go and get this Puzzle?" she asked calmly, causing Cornelius to glare at her.

"I would recommend it." Albus said with a light nod. It was at this point Cornelius realized that it was game over. "Fine then. You win Albus, although conductor is currently in pieces and no one has been able to piece back together. Not even Arthur Weasley, our Muggle expert. And he was our best hope. I don't think that boy could put it back together anytime soon" He said in such a tone that Minerva wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure himself or them. "I do hope however that if I was to pass custody of this teen off to you that every precaution will be taken?"

"Of course Cornelius, that won't be a problem." Albus said, causing Minerva to smile in triumph.

Walking out, Cornelius left the cell to enter the lab where the puzzle was currently located. Minerva crouched down to the boy quickly undoing the spell that was trapping his wrists. Than slowly she lifted the boy up. His body was a dead weight, one arm dangled limply towards the ground. Looking over his shoulder, Albus gently placed the arm on his chest, and pulled Minerva's cloak over his shoulder.

"Do you want me to carry him Minerva?" Albus asked, as Minerva shifted the teen's weight in her arm. Looking down at the head that now rested lightly against her shoulder, Minerva shook her head. Malnourished as he was, he was feather light in her arms. His weight wasn't a burden.


	6. Chapter 6

I'll be the first to say that I am not pleased about the way this one turned out.

It's not very well done, and unfortunately it's a little slow. Mainly because it was not the chapter I wanted to be working on. As I was writing this one, brilliant ideas for chapter seven (which should be up soon) kept appearing in my mind. So this chapter is more than a little uninspired.

I don't know, if there's too many people as upset with this chapter as I am, I may rewrite it later... who knows. I like the end bit though, its the beginning I hate.

/

Not long after the long argument that had shocked the halls of the brand new United Protection office, the Minister for Magic had stormed off in a frustrated muttering mass. His face had been cherry red when Minerva had last seen him. The almost purple shade spreading across his forehead, down his cheeks and across his neck in a brilliant array of colour and the hands that had at one time fiddled with his hat, were nearly ripping it in two.

It didn't take a lot for Minerva to assume that Cornelius was storming back to his office to sulk. To discover a way to make sure that no information on this ordeal ever made its way to the public. The Profit would make sure the Ministry would never be able to save face.

A smirk touched the corner's of Minerva's lips at the very thought. Maybe she should slip some anonymous tip to the writers of the british wizarding newspaper. How Cornelius would twitch when he saw the proceeding article.

The limp bundle of limbs shifted slightly in Minerva's arms, looking for warmth. A small whimper slipped through his lips, drawing the woman's attention back to their purpose here. The boy had made no other movement however, falling so silent that Minerva felt her heart jolt. She could still his faint breath brushing over her neck from where the teen's head rested against her shoulder, however faint it was. It was at that moment a sickening thought struck Minerva.

They were stuck.

How in the name of Merlin were they going to manage to get back to Hogwarts? Madam Pomfery, Hogwarts' nurse would more than likely murder both Minerva and Albus for trying to apperate with an injured passenger (who knows where they would end up).It was nearly impossible to try and use floo powder with two riders. That would only cause one or both of the riders to have a nasty concussion.

Minerva turned around, trying to get Albus' attention. They needed to get out of here soon. The boy's breathing felt so ragged against her neck, harsh and faster than it had been a few minutes earlier. But when Minerva tried to catch Albus' eye, she noticed that the elderly man was digging into one of the many pockets that lined his robe. Looking for something -Minerva thought her, eyes going wide in realization- that would make an adequate portkey.

A Portkey would be the best solution: quick, simple, and easy to keep control of if the person knew what they were doing. Better yet there was no chance of ending up in some wasteland or a stranger's fireplace.

Eventually Albus's hand slipped free form the the material of his robe, showing Minerva the candy wrapper that he was now holding. "Lemon drop, it's almost an addiction I'm afraid..." Albus said staring at the the wrapper with an odd, affectionate look in his eye. "I still wonder why you refuse to try one Minerva."

Minerva's eyebrow rose slightly, "Sorry Albus, but I sincerely doubt that I am going to develop a taste for muggle candies. Particularly not at this precise moment." She said, trying not to snap at Hogwarts headmaster, but her tone reaching into that range unintentionally.

Albus fell silent, but his small grin remained on his face as he tapped the tip of his wand against the empty plastic sweet wrapper. The plastic glowed a dull gold as it was changed through the magical influence. Then it shifted back to its normal appearance, non worse of the ware.

Albus stretched his hand out, allowing Minerva to test if she could reach the now portkey. Reaching out with an elbow, she straightened a little to place the limb on top of Albus's hand. The wrapper crinkled in the still air, and Minerva jumped at the unexpected noise, not knowing causing the wrapper to crinkle, and Albus to wink in a way that reminded Minerva of an old school boy.

And so they waited. There was a moments pause before the portkey started, Albus wanting to make sure that this was done in the least rushed manner humanly possible to avoid complications. Albus once again dug into his pocket and dug out his pocket watch, counting down the time in which the portkey would activate.

Minerva gently moved the hand that was holding onto the boy's thin shoulders to lightly run her fingers through those soft, blonde bangs, avoiding the ones dyed red by sticky blood. The teen had hair like she had never seen before. So different...

"10, 9, 8," Albus muttered under his breath as he shut the pocket watch with a click and stuffed it back into his breast pocket. Minerva shifted the boy into a better position before pressing her elbow further into the plastic wrapper in Albus' fist, making sure to have as much contact with the miniscule portkey as possible.

"3,2,1."

Something jerked from behind Minerva's navel and she felt herself lurch forward. From Minerva's other side she could feel Albus' shoulder bang into her arm and the air rush all around her in a tremendous rush. Bending her elbow, and locking her arms into place, Minerva fought to keep her upper body from moving around too much, so not to jolt the boy in her arms. It almost seemed to be a losing battle however as they where jolted around by the sheer force of the incredible speed that the portkey produced. Minerva could feel the boy starting to lurch with the movements, coming far too close to falling free.

Until Minerva slammed into the wet grass on Hogwarts' grounds. Even with years of practice in succeeding with the perfect landing, she stumbled with the added weight of the teen and would have fallen down if a huge pair of hands had not been there to hold her up.

"Minerva! Albus!" Madam Pomfery cried as the ever huge Hagrid set Minerva back on her feet making sure she was steady. "Are you alright? I got the message headmaster sent me, but I was still worried." the school nurse had a concerned look on her face as she looked Albus and Minerva over, checking for signs of injury.

Minerva just shook her head. "We're fine Poppy." she said quickly, immediately trying to pass of the other woman's worry to try and get her to focus on other things. "But he is not."

Poppy's eyes grew wide as she took in what Minerva was carrying. The colour immediately left her face, and her eyes narrowed, taking that look of concern and transferring it into one of serious concentration, the look of a true medi-witch.

"Hagrid, could you take him please." Poppy said in a polite tone, there was no mistaking the under tone that was most definitely an order. Hagrid didn't even hesitate, bending down to take the weak and unconscious form of the teen into his own arms. The small form was immediately dwarfed in the cage of Hagrid's arms. They contrasted horribly: the petite, sickly form compared to that of the almost giant like features of the Gamekeeper. In any other circumstance it would be hilarious.

A small frown spread over Minerva's face as she watched Hagrid take the boy from her. He fit so perfect in her arms, it felt odd that he was no longer there. Minerva didn't even wait for a moment as Poppy walked away with Hagrid walking at her heels. Minerva was only two seconds behind them both, her eyes trained on Hagrid's back as she watched him walk forward up the stone stairs of the school.

It was very late at night now, or very early in the morning. While the moon had disappeared from the horizon, the sun still had little intention of showing its glowing face. There wasn't a single student out of bed at the moment, no questioning eyes as to who or what the grounds keeper was carrying. And for that Minerva was grateful. Rumours had a nasty habit of getting out of hand in a large building like Hogwarts. Even the smallest scrap of information could mutate into a full blown novel, and this needed to be kept quiet.

Lucky enough the hospital wing was just as empty as the rest of the hallways of the school. No sick child or last minute broken bone. Hagrid carried the limp form of the teen over to one of the beds closest to the fireplace that heated the room, and carefully lowered him onto the bed.

The teen's face was almost grey against the stark white of the sheets, a thin layer of sweat covering every inch of his body. Minerva could see his thin chest flutter as it drew in another shuddering breath, each rib completely visible against the drawn, scarred skin. When was the last time this child had eaten?

"I need everyone to leave." Poppy said in a low voice that echoed around the practically silent room. "I will come out in a little while to tell you what I find out."

Albus nodded at this, and Hagrid's hand once again landed lightly on Minerva's shoulder, leading her from the room. Minerva followed numbly, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder into the hospital wing. But Poppy was standing in front of the bed now, and all she could see was the back of the woman's head.

Then the door closed with an echoing snap.

Albus slipped his wand back into his pocket when Minerva turned around again. "I'm sorry my dear, but I don't think focusing on this is the best thing to do right now." He said gently, but left no tone for argument. "The only thing we can do now is wait."

And wait they did.

The air that surrounded their temporary waiting room had become deathly still. They had decided to wait in the sanctuary of Albus' office until further notice. Hagrid had remained as well, standing with his hands out to the fire, staring absent minded into the flames. Albus was sitting in his chair behind the ancient wooden desk. Thin, pale fingers were stretched out, playing with the vibrant tail feathers of his beautiful phoenix. The birds head titled to the side as it received the attention, as if trying to figure out what was up with the sudden gloomy atmosphere.

No one had spoken in the longest time, there was nothing to say. Instead they just sat there in shocked silence. Minerva sat in the squishy chair from earlier, trying to remain composed as she sipped at the newly reheated tea that Molly had brought. That seemed like forever ago... Had it only been a few hours since Molly had brought her wayward husband into Albus' office?

Albus had suggested earlier on that she should go to bed, but Minerva could not even bring herself to think about such a notion right now. Not when every once of her wanted to either break down the door to the infirmary or curl up into a little ball upon the surface of the chair.

Minerva didn't have the slightest idea as to why she was acting like this: a nervous little girl. There was something about the child however that brought out every single maternal instinct she had, even without child of her own to take care of.

The heavy door to Albus's office slid open, and Minerva's head instantly jerked up towards it. In less than two seconds the normal stately witch was on her feet, staring at the now open door. The tea cup that she had been cradling to her chest, slipped from her grasp and shattered to the ground into several different pieces.

Serverus Snape's thin eyebrow rose into his greasy black hair as he took in the woman standing before him. Black eyes went from Minerva's features, taking in the pale red blush that dusted her cheekbones and the shattered china surrounded by dark brown liquid. The blush on Minerva's face deepened before she regained control of her embarrassment. Without a word she pulled out her wand and muttered a quick spell under her breath.

The shattered remains of the tea cup pulled together without hesitation, and the dark stain was lifted from the hardwood floor before it could do any damage. Without a single word Minerva moved back to sit in the chair Albus had drawn up for her earlier.

"You called, Albus?" Serverus asked, turning his attention away from Minerva with a barely concealed roll of his eyes. Albus looked up from his careful preening of Fawkes tail feathers, meeting his potions master gaze.

A small smile touched the corner's of the headmaster's lips, and he sat up straighter in his chair. "Yes, Serverus. Did you talk to Poppy?"

"I did." The tone was clipped, short. Minerva found herself suppressing a sigh. Serverus never changed, just as uncaring about the things that happened around him as ever.

Yet Albus, as always took it in stride. Not getting the slightest bit irritated with having to play an almost constant game of 20 questions just to get a reasonable answer out of the man. "What did she say?" Albus asked, waiting patiently for an answer.

"That there was nothing I could do." Serverus replied with an uncaring shrug. "I left a few mild doses of pepper-up potion with her. Had to cut the formula in half, complete waste of my time."

Minerva blinked, startled by Serverus' statement; "What do you mean, you had to leave a milder dose? Wouldn't he need something stronger?" she asked, catching Serverus' attention once more. A sneer formed over the mans lips, giving him that arrogant gaze that Minerva found rather unattractive on any person, but had to deal with more often than not with the former Slytherin.

"I didn't find it necessary to ask. it's not something that concerns me, now is it Minerva?"

Minerva clenched her fists, resiting the urge to wipe that pompous smirk of his face. She wasn't in the mood to deal with this. "Well didn't Poppy say anything?" She pressed, hoping to maybe get a little a little information out of Snape.

"No, he didn't give me the time to pass along a message. Just dropped off the potions and left."

Minerva's eyes darted to the door, where a haggard looking Poppy was now standing, whipping her hands with a white linen handkerchief, which Minerva was shocked to see was nearly covered in dark red blood. The Hogwarts Nurse walked slowly into the centre of the room, and instantly slumped into the spare chair beside Minerva's vacant seat.

Poppy looked absolutely exhausted, something that Minerva was not used to seeing. The medi-witch could handle an entire injured quidditch team, while chaperoning an after-game party within the hospital wing without breaking a sweat. Yet here she was looking for the life of her like she had just run a mile carrying a 50 pound brick on her back.

"How is he?" Hagrid asked from the far corner of the room, Minerva had almost forgotten that the large man was there.

Poppy sighed, resting her elbow against the arm of her chair and placed her face on her palm. "I tried everything that I could." She said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "But nothing seems to be working."

"What do you mean by nothing is working."Albus asked gently. Poppy shook her head.

"Nothing. None of my spells, or the potions. They either don't work, or end up causing the poor thing more pain. It's almost as if his body is rejecting my magic. I didn't know what to do. I patched him up the best I could, but I don't know a lot of muggle first aid. Then there's the fever he got from that horrible cut on his shoulder, it refuses to break."

Minerva's frown deepened, and a quizzical expression spread across Albus' face. Why was the teen's magic resisting. This child was becoming odder and odder by the second, and rapidly it was coming more apparent.

What on earth was he?

Hagrid placed his hand on Poppy's shoulder, hopping to calm the shaken nurse. She looked as if she was about to break down. The large man squeezed the shoulder slightly, and Poppy took a large breath.

"He's awake now, but refuses to answer any of my questions. The child seems traumatized, and I don't think he's going to be able to pull himself out of this. Whatever was done to him at the ministry was too much for his mind to handle." Poppy paused again, unable to compete her report in one go. It was almost impossible to keep a professional attitude with this case.

"It's as if he's lost the will to live. It's preventing his body from getting the rest he needs. He just sits there, staring at the wall. I don't know if he's going to make it."

The implications of Poppy's words hung there like a dead weight, pressing on Minerva's chest with an oppressive pressure. After everything they had gone through to save the boy, it wasn't going to be enough? Minerva hung her head, resting her chin against her chest. "Can we go see him?" She finally asked in a low voice.

Poppy looked up, a pained look in her eyes as she watched her colleague. "If you want to," she said, a small little catch in her voice "I don't see why though. He's not going to notice your presence. He's just an empty shell"

But Minerva wasn't listening, in fact she was already at the door without a single word to her co-workers. The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind the transfiguration professor, leaving everyone else to wonder what happened.

With a soft exhale, Dumbledore's blue eyes trained on the door as if trying to see through it and follow his deputy Headmistress down the spiral staircase that lead to the rest of the castle. "It's truly unfortunate that this had to end this way. Serverus would you please go with her?"

Without a single word of argument, Snape also slipped out the door, and walked down the stairs. Minerva was already a good several feet in front. Even with his much longer legs he found it difficult to keep stride with her. Serverus did not understand why she cared so much about this brat. Someone she hadn't even known for half a day. Yet here she was, breaking off almost all forms of decorum to practically run down to the hospital wing.

A few minutes later they where standing outside the large stone arch that marked the entrance to the Hospital Wing. It was here that Serverus finally caught up to his fellow professor. Minerva was just standing there, looking towards the door that blocked her path, hesitation in every inch of her stance.

Walking forward, Serverus leaned his back against the stone wall, his back facing the entrance. "Well, are you going in or not?" He asked bluntly, watching as Minerva's head whipped around in surprise. The lines on her thin face seemed deeper all of a sudden, making the witch seem almost ten years older than she actually was.

Minerva fixed Serverus with a steely glare, looking for a moment like her old self. "Yes, Serverus I am going to go in. Why did you follow me if this is so unimportant to you?"

"Albus asked me to." Snape said, his famous sneer once again curling at the corner's of his lips. He seems worried about you for some reason I do not understand."

Minerva sighed, looking once more towards the door. "I'm not the one the headmaster should be worried about. After everything that helpless boy went through, he's more than likely going to die away from his friends and family in some foreign country."

"It's not like he's aware about what's happening Minerva. I doubt he cares."

Minerva didn't even bother to respond to his last statement before she trudged into the hospital wing, leaving Serverus to stand alone in the hallway. With a small grunt, Serverus watched Minerva's retreating form before he settled a little more comfortably against the wall. This could take a while.

Holding her breath slightly, Minerva walked into the dimly lighted hospital wing. The sun was just starting to peak at the bottoms of the large airy windows that surrounded the room. It cast the hospital wing with an eerie red glow, almost the colour of blood. A bad omen as Sybil would say, if she ever bothered to come down from the Divination tower.

On the last bed in the room lay the teen they had rescued from the Ministry. He was sitting up, using the head board for support. A heavy pale blue medical blanket lay across his waist and another quilt was draped loosely across his shoulders.

Almost every inch of his skin was covered white bandages. Across his eye, surrounding his forehead, around his bare shoulder. Bound so tight around the skin, pressing into the open wounds so that the bandages became stained red. Those bandages looked so painful, Minerva never did understand Muggle medicine. Wouldn't it be unhygienic to push material into an open wound?

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Minerva gently placed her hand on his shoulder. The boy didn't react, just sat there, leaning against the pillows Poppy had placed behind him. He almost looked dead, eyes blank and staring at nothing. If it wasn't for the fact Minerva could see the faint flutter of his chest, rising up and down with each breath it would be impossible to tell.

Leaning forward slightly, Minerva fought to make eye contact with the boy, resiting a flinch when she noticed how dull those eyes where. Nothing registered, he didn't even follow her movement. They where disturbing, and heart wrenching.

"Dear, what's your name?"

Maybe if she just herded him in the right direction, made him feel like he was safe. Maybe than the boy would respond. Maybe it wasn't too late.

But he never responded, just remained staring into space. Not even a flicker.

"Dear?"

A soft sigh fell through Minerva's lips. The boy was still as emotionless as ever. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Snape's smirking face, staring at them from the archway. Nothings going to happen." He said smugly, watching them with a raised eyebrow. "Just give up, it'll be far easier for the both of us if you do."

"How can you say that?" Minerva snapped, getting up off the bed in a rush. "How on earth can you act like this, like he's not even human! He's just a child!"

"One that the Ministry seemed determined to keep detained, and for a good reason from what I've heard. I don't think we can keep this boy to the same standards as other kid's his age."

Minerva's fist clenched, she could feel the tips of her nails digging into the soft skin on her palm. It was very close to breaking the skin. She could argue with this man for hours and they would get absolutely no where.

Reaching up to her shoulder, Minerva grabbed the strap of the drawstring bag that Cornelius had shoved towards her before he had stomped back of to her office. It felt heavy in her hands, and Serverus looked startled at the substantial clanging sound that echoed within the cloth confines.

"This," Minerva punctuated her statement by thrusting the bag underneath Snape's nose, who had walked forward to try and find the source of the loud clinking noise. "Is the item we dragged away from Fudge's grabby little hands. It's almost like the boys wand as far as we can tell, and the reason why the Minister was interested in him, despite what he says.

And with that, Minerva once again moved to sit at the boy's bedside, running her hand through those soft gold bangs once again, frowning when she hit a stubborn knot. With gentle hands she placed the bag into the boy's lap, and loosened the draw string that was holding it shut. Minerva picked up the limp wrist of the teen's hand, running a thumb over the back of his hand, hoping he would at least notice what she was doing. Minerva guided the boy's hand into the bag, and wrapped his fingers around one of the pieces.

The effect was almost instantaneous. The corner's of Minerva's lips lifted up in a tight lipped smile as she held the hand in her grip close tighter around the puzzle piece. When Minerva removed her hand, the boy's followed suit with a piece clenched in his own palm. The boy held on to the piece tightly before lifting it up to his eyes, and instantly digging into the bag to get another one.

The film never left the boy's eyes, still that same washed out violet that had everyone so worried about him. But now their was a glimmer of recognition in this eyes, struggling to be seen through the cover that was holding back the boy's true nature. It looked so bright...

"What's your name?" Minerva thought that it was worth a shot to at least try again. Maybe just maybe she would get a response. In truth Minerva was not holding out much hope, and this improvement was good enough fro her in that moment.

The boy didn't look up from his puzzle. The pieces where now all spilled out on his lap, and he was sorting through them with careful fingers. For a moment Minerva was ready to give up trying and take her winning's back to Albus. In fact she was already on her feet, untangling herself from the bed spread. Until a low, melodious voice held her back.

"Yugi"

Minerva's head whipped around, staring at the boy with wide eyes. But he was still staring at the puzzle. A soft click echoed when he connected to small pieces together. _Yugi..._ The word sounded foreign to her ears, not an english word. But it seemed to fit... it had to be his name.

This was momentous, maybe the bo... _Yugi_ could be saved after all. Maybe he was going to be alright.

"Alright _Yugi_." Minerva said softly, turing back to the patient with a soft expression on her face. His head tilted slightly towards her voice as a fifth and sixth piece of his puzzle slid together with an effortless ease that only came with practice. _Yugi_ seemed to be struggling with the seventh however. "I'll come back and visit you later, alright? You need to get some rest."

Nothing came in response, Yugi had dropped the piece in his hand back onto the bed, and was now completely absorbed in tracking down another one. Minerva smiled as he turned around to walk out of the room, leaving a shocked Serverus behind her.

The man was trying so hard to hide his surprise. It was kind of cute, the way he tighten every line of his face and body, and with a loud swishing of his pitch black robes turned to follow her from the room. They didn't say a single word to each other, Serverus more than a little irritated in the fact he had been proven wrong in that one instant, and Minerva far to pleased and mature to insert in her own _I told you so_ that would have been ever so appropriate in this situation.

"Well? What are you going to do now?" Snape drawled eventually when they both made it to the grand staircase that would lead them both to their individual destinations. Minerva back to Albus' to speak of her findings, and Snape back to to his office to try and find a 'Wake Me Up' potion before his classes started.

Minerva smiled as she turned and faced her fellow teacher. "He gets better." She said simply, hoping to leave the statement at that."And he stays here until it is safe for him to leave. Simple."

Snape snorted, the sound long and drawn out, easily showing his disbelief. "Fudge isn't going to let this go Minerva." He hissed, pushing Minerva up against one of the walls in the narrow hallway they were in, dark eyes glittering in the dim light. "He'll dig up every single loop hole he can find to get this kid back. Be careful Minerva, because he won't care if you lose your career in this venture. Make sure that this _Yugi_ is worth the losses."

Minerva stepped out from underneath the outstretched arm that was in her way. With one last glare at Serverus she started to climb up the stairs, listening as the potions professor started to walk down them. He just didn't get it, how that kid had been treated at the Ministry. Pulling her cloak a little tighter against her robe, Minerva continued to climb.

Never, as long as she could prevent it, would Yugi go back to Fudge. There was nothing the Minister for Magic could do to change that.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally... ugh chapter six was absolutely painful. I wanted to do this chapter so badly while writing 6. It feels great to finally have this one on paper... or screen... whatever. Even if I had to redo it a few times to get it right. But I absolutely love the final project, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think this is the best thing I have ever written!

As well as the longest XD

/

It was dark.

So very dark. Not black, not so much colour that colour seemed to turn black. Black was normal... this was not normal. This... This was almost as if there was nothing there to cause colour at all. It wasn't black, just dark. As if everything in the world had been erased and enveloped.

He couldn't see his own fingers, even when they were pressed against the tip of his nose. They were invisible, everything was invisible. More than invisible, why couldn't he feel his hands against his face? Why couldn't he feel anything?

It was so dark.

Dark enough to cause a person to lose their sense of being. If you can't sense your body, does it truly exist? The dark seemed to envelop all sounds, all feelings, everything and left him with only dark and cold. He can't see, he can't hear... the bone numbing cold shuts down everything. Or does he even feel the cold? How on earth can one feel the cold but not their own body?

Did he even exist?

He shut his eyes, trying to focus. There had to be more to this than just dark. If he could focus, he could think, if he could think, he still existed. The dark could not take that for him. Right?

So dark, so Cold.

Why was it dark?

Was he sitting? Or was he standing up? So confusing, it was impossible to even tell if his eyes were opened or closed at the moment. A message from his brain said that his foot had jolted forward, he must have been standing. But there wasn't anything beneath his foot, so why did it stop falling, why did he move? Another step and another. Was he going forward or backwards? Left or Right? Up or down? Or was he even moving?

For how long had things been like this? Was there ever a time when it wasn't dark? What had happened before to lock him here?

He remembered, nothing... Flashes? Maybe... There where times where he seemed to black out from this... what could one call this lack of existence? Only to come back with dull glimpses of things, and be subjected to this terror, feeling them disappear from his mind and feeling like something else had been ripped from him, leaving an empty hole.

Was that where the darkness was coming from?

And where had it gone?

_He was standing in a small room now. So different from the darkness he had left behind. Moonlight streamed from the skylight on the roof, bathing the entire room with it's pale glow. The room he was standing in was small, but comfortably so. It felt homely, nice, pleasant. The light blue of the paint making the room seem so bright, even though it was the middle of the night. It was warm here, something that felt so nice against his skin, after so long in the cold and dark._

_But where was he?_

_It wasn't place he recognized. A small wooden desk stood underneath the sky light, covered in neat stacks of books and papers. On the other side was a bed, soft looking blankets covering the mattress, so yielding looking. Everything in this room tugged at something in his soul, it felt as if he had been here but he couldn't remember what it is however._

_Why was he here?_

_There was a boy, standing in the middle of the room, finally something he recognized. That mass of black and red hair was impossible to miss. "Aibou..." he tired to say, but no sound came out. He attempted to stretch his arm out, but nothing moved._

"_I want to be with you always." The words spilled from Yami's lips without hesitation, but he hadn't intended to speak them. They hadn't even crossed his mind. "Even if I don't get my memory back."_

_Memories? That's right, he had been looking for his memories. The thing they had been searching for so desperately. But for how long? Why was everything so hazy? The facts where slipping through his finger's like sand, and it was become more difficult to hold on as the seconds rolled. _

_Was this a memory as well?_

"_Me too..." Yugi's soft voice said in response, and his heart clenched as he noticed the tears running down the boy's face. Why was he crying? "Forever. I will give you all my memories Mou Hitori no Boku"_

_Mou Hitori no Boku, Aibou called him that... Mou Hitori no Boku. The words almost seemed foreign in his mind. He recognized them, of course. But there meaning escaped him._

It was dark.

So very dark. A constant cloud that pressed into his very soul, cutting him off from everything, and trying to steal everything he had left. There was so little left. But Yami was determined to keep it. He had to keep it.

That small room that Yami didn't recognize. What colour was the walls? He had to remember.

Blue, the colour was blue. The walls were blue, it was night time, the moon was out. He was talking to Aibou. But what were they talking about?

What were they talking about?

Yami wanted to scream. But there was no point, no noise would ever pass his lips. Or could he just not hear the noise over the darkness?

What colour were the walls?

Nothing, he couldn't even remember that small detail, it was gone, and that urge to scream returned with a vengeance. There was no escape from the dark. Never an escape.

He needed an escape. Only Ra knew how much he needed to escape.

Calm, Yami needed to calm down. Calm would keep his mind clear, clarity would allow him to keep his sanity, and his sanity would allow his memories to remain intact. Take a deep breath, try to ignore the fact that he wasn't sure if he had managed this task. Breathe.

Breathe.

Calm

Breathe.

The only explanation to what was happening was the Millennium Puzzle. It was the only thing he could think of that would create this kind of darkness. The Puzzle must have shattered, locking him back within its confines.

The darkness wrapped tighter around him, stealing the thought process. Icy daggers plunged into his mind, making it impossible to focus on anything. The pain was impossible, it filled Yami's entire being in a way that should not have been possible. There was no end, no beginning. Where was it coming from?

_Mou Hitori no Boku_

Aibou...

Yami remembered now. There had been a fight. Was that when the puzzle had shattered? He remembered that. Bits of it at least. Strange people, dressed in odd clothes attacking them with brightly coloured sparks.

What had happened? Were was Aibou? How long had he been sitting in the dark?

Was Aibou alright?

There were too many questions. His mind couldn't get a grip on the chaos that echoed within his mind. Panic started to take hold as more and more questions rocketed around, along with answers that he didn't want to think about.

Again the cold came, ripping all thoughts from his mind. There was no room for any thought besides pain. In the midst of his agony however, Yami realized that he had to stay calm. The puzzle must be sensing his thoughts, and it strove to take what excited him away. The things that were the most important.

Calm,

Breathe,

Calm.

Focusing, Yami as self-possessed as he could be in this situation dug into his memory, trying to grasp onto the finer details of this situation. He had to figure out what was happening, and hold onto it with everything. Those thoughts would keep him... him.

The pain disappeared, and Yami had the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach that came from passing out. Feeling started to come back to his body, enough to make his head feel fuzzy, and a pleasant numbness spread out to his limbs. His eyes slipped closed, and a bright light flashed before his vision.

_The game shop door opened with a small sound. The bell that hung jauntily above the door ringing as it was pushed open to the elements. Once, twice, three times in rapid succession. The shop was empty, there was no one there to hear the tinkling noise. No one else to see the large mass of teens cramming there way into the small store._

_School had just ended for the day, and everyone had rushed over to the game shop for what would hopefully be just a few minutes, before heading to the arcade. This day, Yami realized with a small smile, he remembered. Jounouchi and Honda had been so impatient to leave the shop, wanting desperately to play the brand new games the arcade had just brought in. They were waiting impatiently by the door. _

_The tall blonde had his arms crossed across his chest, and the toes of his worn running shoes tapped the floor impatiently. Honda stood on the other side of the door, looking far more calm than his friend. But every once in. His eyes flickered back to the ground when Anzu, who was sitting on the cool marble counter, shot him a glare and snapped at him to be patient._

"_We'll be two seconds you guys!" Yugi called, pushing his blonde bangs away from his eyes as he dropped the large box he had heaved down from the storage room, beside where Anzu was sitting. From behind him, Ryou and Malik came out, both caring a box of their own. "Grandpa said we only had to bring the boxes out, and he would set them out. So we'll be free to go."_

_Yami watched his light from where his memory and Bakura where leaning against one of the glass card cases. This truly was the oddest feeling, to interact with ones memory in such a manor, unable to change it with even the smallest twitch of his fingers. Nothing in his body so much as twitched, unless it had already done so in the past._

_Malik dropped the box onto the ground, where it landed with a loud thump. Groaning miserably the tanned blond extended his arms far above his head, stretching his abused shoulder muscles. "Who could have guessed that cards could be so bloody heavy?" He moaned, slumping on the ground and leaning against the box he just brought in, tipping his head against the top and shutting his eyes._

_Yami felt his head turn to the side of it's own accord as Bakura released a loud barking laugh on his other side. "Quit your complaining and get back to work so we can leave Malik." He sneered, crossing his arms across his chest. Malik's head whipped around at Bakura's words, his nose crunching up against his face as he glared, an expression Yami found to be rather humorous. As did Bakura apparently as he continued with a large smirk on his face. "If my weak little hikari can lug those boxes without this pathetic whining than what excuse do you have?"_

_Malik stuck out his tongue, the pink muscle flicking out in the most childish of insults as he pushed himself up off the box. Waltzing over to where the darks were standing, the holder of the millennium rod jabbed a finger at Bakura's chest. "Big words for someone who hasn't broken a single sweat since we got here. If your so desperate to leave, then do some work."_

_The thin line of Bakura's eyebrow arched up slightly as he looked down at the finger on his chest and back up to Malik's cheeky looking features. "And why, pray-tell would I do that when I have such perfectly good slave labour to do all the heavy lifting for me? Malik you are making very little sense."_

"_Slave labour?" Mali asked incredulously, cheeks slowly starting to tint an aggressive shade of red as the implications of Bakura's words slipped into his mind. At this point Yami almost felt in tune with his past self's body, feeling the corner's of his lips turn up into a small smirk at the same moment as he felt the impulse. "Have you really let yourself go that much almighty thief king? To rely on slaves, no better than the Pharaoh was, I swear." _

_It was at this point where Yami tried to remove his attention from the two bickering teens despite the jab about his past. He remembered how this conversation went, at least he thought he did. At the very least Yami remembered how other conversations of this nature tended to end, Malik and Bakura could argue for hours before it escalated into a fist fight. It was annoying however that Yami realized he could not remember more than just a few minutes into this day. It was almost as if there was a block that was stopping him from remembering completely._

"_Bakura come and help, please?" Ryou called from the storage room. "There's a box in here that's to heavy for Yugi and I, and Malik deserves a break."_

_At those words a huge, triumphant grin spread across Malik's face and a scowl of equal size turned Bakura's face into a storm cloud. The white haired man didn't move from his spot, despite Ryou's summons, not bothering to hide his displeasure._

"_Bakura, please we could use some help!"_

_With a loud grunt, Bakura unwrapped his arms, and pushed himself away from the glass counter he had previously been leaning on. He slowly stomped his way over to where Yugi and Ryou were standing, a long stream of swear words in numerous languages hanging on his tongue. _

_The grin on Malik's face grew larger as he moved to stand beside Yami, quickly stealing Bakura's spot. Leaning his palms on the glass counters so that they rested behind him, Malik laughed at the swear words coming out of Bakura's mouth,most of them previously unused for thousands of years. But then suddenly the spitefully pleased noise stopped without warning._

"_Malik?" Yami heard Anzu ask worriedly as she hopped down from the counter she was sitting on towards where Yami's memory and Malik were standing. The teen's eyes where drawn to something just outside the window, and it appeared that he had not heard anything Anzu had said. "Malik, are you alright?" Anzu asked again, placing her hand on his shoulder._

"_They're people outside" Malik hissed darkly, not tearing his gaze from the window._

"_Yes, I'd imagine there would be Malik." Yami felt his memory self say sarcastically, his eyes following Malik's gaze to the many people walking down the streets. "This is a public street after all. I thought you were done with the whole paranoia thing. It isn't becoming."_

"_It's not paranoia if they're actually coming after you." Malik snapped back, "These people are deliberately positioning themselves around the shop, and I'm sensing something different about them"_

_Memory Yami's eyes slid shut, and sent the presence of his mind out to the outside of the shop. Tentatively he allowed his mind to touch that of the people on the street, stretching that awareness around the shop. "I see what you mean" Memory Yami said in a calm voice. "There is about... 20, maybe 30 people in the area. Their minds are all different from the rest of the public, why I don't know. It doesn't feel like an item's influence, but it's similar."_

_A slight pang rang through Yami, and small knot formed in the base of his stomach at the words that were spilling from his memory's mouth. He didn't know why, but a feeling of dread was starting to build._

_Bakura dumped the large box that he had brought back from the storage room unceremoniously beside Malik's. "It sounds like a group of your mysterious people are heading around the back of the store." He said, tilting his neck to the side until a loud crack sounded in the room. "Failing miserably at being quiet, but I give them marks for effort. I checked out one of the weaker minds with the eye, and there is most __definitely__ some hostility there."_

"_Great...And here I thought we were done with this crap. So much for the arcade." Jounouchi groaned, and Yami noticed his eyes being drawn to the window, probably to see what Malik was looking at. Judging by the brief flicker of confusion that flashed behind Jounouchi's smooth expression it was apparent he had not found what he was looking for. "So what's the game plan," Jounouchi finally asked, turning back to the darks, curiosity written all over his face._

_Bakura and Malik shared a smirk, before flashing their eyes towards Yami. Physically, Yami could feel is memories features smooth into that cool in-fascination he was famous for, but mentally Yami was throwing a fit. Something was seriously wrong about what was happening._

"_They obviously think that they have the element of surprise." Memory Yami replied with a small shrug of his shoulders. "So we let them take the first move, and force them into defence."_

"_So you're going to fight them?_

_Yami's heart clenched at the odd look in Yugi's soft purple eyes as his Hikari entered the room. Apprehension, worry, indecisiveness flowed down to Yami's side of the think, forcing Memory Yami to build a small mental block to keep them from effecting his own emoticons on this matter._

"_Only if it comes down to it." Memory Yami said softly, placing his hand on Yugi's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "But I doubt that 30 people trying to break into a sub urban game shop bare good intentions Aibou."_

_Yugi sighed, the small release of air giving light to the misgivings he had about this. "Something doesn't feel right about this." He breathed shutting his eyes as a look of concentration spread across his youthful face. "I don't feel like attacking these people would be the best idea. The only reason they would be here would be for the item's right? I think we're underestimating them."_

_Yami felt his own concern and worry surge as his memories started to grow and mingle. Yugi's intuition on things like this was unnervingly accurate... in the end. Who to trust, who to avoid... Not only that, but those gut feelings his light had previously had, and grown to intuitive knowledge when the dark's had returned from the after life and their powers rose. Not something to be taken lightly._

_The hand resting on Yugi's shoulder slowly traced its way up to Yugi's face. With two fingers Yami's memory gently lifted Yugi's chin, forcing the Hikari to look at him straight in the eyes. "Aibou, you worry far too much about such silly things."He said in a reprimanding tone, mingled with the slightest tinge of humour and with concern. Showing that he was taking Yugi's warning seriously._

_Even if Bakura was not._

"_Do you honestly believe that we would actually lose to a pathetic group of mortals pipsqueak? Get your head on straight, this won't even be a Challenge." Bakura sneered, the light flashing on the elongated canine that was revealed when Bakura's upper lip lifted. Memory Yami glared at his fellow dark, every ounce of his expression telling the tomb robber to stifle._

"_They're about to move." Malik said nonchalantly from his spot by the window, staring with his eyes narrowed to the world outside. "If your royal highness has a plan, now would be the best time to explain it."_

"_Theres not much of a plan" Yami said casting his eyes around the game shop, taking in everything he could about the location. "we wait."_

_Rolling his eyes, Bakura quickly dug into the chest pocket of the long black trench coat he was wearing, and quickly drew his deck out. With an easy flick of his wrist, and a few fancy hand movements, the cards almost seemed to soar into the air, quickly shuffling. Holding out his deck to Ryou, the white haired hikari quickly cut the deck, pulling out a single card. Without even looking at what card he had drawn, Ryou held it back out to his dark_

"_Well, if we're just going to sit here, than we should arrange some sort of welcoming committee." Bakura sneered, taking his deck and the card back from Ryou, taking a quick glance at the card his light had handed to him. A malicious light gleamed in his copper eyes as Bakura looked at the card, causing Ryou to wince, wondering what he had just drawn._

_A lard crack echoed through the air, causing Yugi to jump about a foot in the air at the loud noise. With a silent gesture, they backed against the far wall of the shop. There was no window on this side, and there was comfort at having the wall at their backs. Yami, Bakura and Malik quickly pulled forward to the front, each man tense, waiting. Jounouchi and Honda stood at the back, their eyes darting around, watching every door every window._

_More cracks ensued, each one sounding distinctly like a gun shot, Anzu paled as more and more appeared in the air._

_Crack, _

_Crack,_

_Crack.  
_

_Yami had long since lost count of the loud noises. Long since stopped trying to figure out where they were coming from. It was like nothing he had ever heard before._

_And then it stopped. _

_The lack of noise making the game shop unnaturally quiet. A chill ran up Yami's spine from his memory counterpart. Yami felt his memory self shift his weight slightly, anchoring himself to the ground. _

_Bakura's head jerked up suddenly, as footsteps started to echo from the floor above. Heavy boots, delicate items crashing and shattering above. It sounded like whoever was up there was ripping the house upside down._

"_How in Ra's name did they get up there" Malik hissed in Memory Yami's ear. A quick shrug of Memory Yami's shoulder was the only response he received. _

_It wasn't a matter of how they got up there._

_It was about when they were going to come down._

"_There's more..." Bakura growled, clutching at the millennium ring from where it rested against the chest. The relic was glowing a bright shade of gold and the points that dangled from the bottom where pointing forward. "Just outside the centre of Domino, and moving bloody fast. It feels like 30."_

_Memory Yami swore under his breath. "Get ready." He said, talking a deep breath before calling at the millennium puzzle. On one side, Memory Yami could see a bright flash of light as Bakura summoned his Man Eater Bug, ordering it to conceal itself into the shadows._

_The cracking noises were starting up again, Ryou and Yugi moved tighter together, keeping their backs close as they prepared their own magic. Focusing their energy together, Ryou and Yugi started to spread a shield over everyone. It wouldn't be as strong as it would be if the darks were able to help, but it would serve. _

_If... they could get it up fast enough._

_The almost invisible beams of light slowly spread, just as the people broke through the front door. It had just past the darks when the first group stomped down the stairs._

_Memory Yami looked around, watching the looks of intent concentration that had spread across Ryou and Yugi's features. Spreading their natural shields this far out was a difficult task. But neither Bakura or Yugi could help, they needed to focus on playing offence. So Memory Yami turned back around._

_Nearly 60 people were jammed into the small game shop. Each one with a look of serious determination on their European features. Most certainly not Japanese. But what really struck Yami as odd was what they were wearing. Draped in long sheets of dark blue material, silver lining the sleeves, collar and hem, each person, both men and woman wore robes. A fashion statement that Yami could have sworn had died centuries previous._

_A cult maybe?_

"_Under the Jurisdiction of the United Protection as created by the Minister for Magic, I: Scott Connors, officially place you under arrest"_

_Memory Yami blinked at the booming voice, a single eyebrow rising up to the ceiling. 'Minister For Magic'? 'United Protection'. This definitely sounded like a cult._

_The under arrest part definitely won parts for being different._

"_Last time I checked." Bakura sneered, looking at the odd group of people up and down. "you need a lot more influence and power before you can go around shouting 'your under arrest'. Other wise everyone would be doing it._

"_Are you trying to be funny sir? Because I assure you that this is a serious matter" Conners' said, his voice deep and degrading, as if he was trying to explain the concept of stealing to a stranger's five year old. A pale, but scarred hand dug into the pocket of the odd robe he was wearing, seeming to grab hold of something. "You, with the exception of the three muggles in the back, have affiliation with dark magic that is prohibited by Ministry Laws. I'm going to ask that the five of you come with me before this gets out of hand."_

"_I have to say friend, that you are making it difficult to take you seriously, dressed like that. I hear the comic book convention is down the street, maybe you'd fit in a little better down there." Jounouchi growled, not appreciating the muggle comment, even without knowing the definition of the odd english word, one that he had never learned in school. But the distain the robed man was literally vibing in his direction, gave more than a hint towards the definition. "Because my friends and I are not interested in the bullshit your trying to sell."_

_A tall, thin, but well built woman stepped out to stand shoulder to shoulder with Conners. Her long, dirty blond hair was tied up into a thick knot at the top of her head, showing of her strict features, narrow eyes and high cheekbones. A sharp contrast to the dark robe she was wearing which almost made her seem like a ghost. "This isn't your concern Muggle. So shut your mouth before it gets you into any more trouble. So why don't you and the two brunettes leave now, and let the professionals deal with this... hmm?"_

_Jounouchi's fist clenched, and Honda lurched forward, only held back by Anzu's hand on his shoulder and the glare Malik sent in his direction. Honda slumped slightly, realizing that to attempt a fight right now would not be wise. Not until they had a better idea of what could happen. Yugi's warning was burning in all their minds, sharp and clear as any crystal._

_While, Malik was able to show that idea to Honda, no one was there to stop Jounouchi._

"_Or" he snarled, eyes glinting with anger in the sunlight that streamed in the shop. "You could just get your tails out of the shop, before we kick you out."_

_The woman's face scrunched for a second in confusion, before flushing a bright vivid red. In that moment her hand disappeared from view, reaching up into the sleeve of her robe. Before any of them knew what was happening her sharp voice rose above all other noise. "Stupefy" She growled, venom dripping from every syllable, as if Jounouchi had given her the worst insult imaginable. _

_There was a thin piece of wood directed at Jounouchi's chest, shaking slightly from the tight grip the woman had on it. As her battle cry fell from her lips however, a fountain of bright red sparks erupted from the tip, streaking towards Jounouchi._

_Yugi's eyes grew wide as the sparks shot towards his best friend. With a small grunt of effort he strained to get the shield to spread at a faster rate. At the moment Anzu was covered, as well as himself, Ryou, Malik and the darks. But Jounouchi and Honda were still wide open._

_The light of his and Ryou's shield started to speed up slowly, faster when Ryou finally picked up on what Yugi was trying to do. But the sparks were moving at a far quicker rate. It was all any of them could do but watch as the sparks sizzled for a few seconds against the bare edge of there shield, before it shot through._

_And struck Jounouchi in the chest._

"_No!" Anzu screamed as Jounouchi's eyes grew wide before slowly slipping closed as the blonde toppled backwards and slammed on his back into the hard wood floor with an almighty crash._

_Anzu was at his side in a second, kneeling on the hard floor, she clutched at his shoulders, screaming the blonds name. From Anzu's other side, Honda pushed her hand's away from Jounouchi's shoulders before grabbing onto them his self, shaking Jounouchi roughly. But he never responded._

_It was almost like he was..._

"_What did you do to him!" Anzu screamed at the woman. Water welled in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks as her eyes fell on the thin piece of wood still clenched in the woman's hand. "What did you do!"_

_The woman with the odd stick ignored the cry however, almost as if it was not worth her notice and turned back to the darks, not even flinching at the double set of glowing red eyes that stared back. "Do you still wish to attack?" she asked, twirling the stick between thin fingers in an elegant and almost arrogant motion. "Every person here knows how to preform magic like that, and so much more. So if you, your look alikes and the purple eyed blond wish to come with us, we can get around without another incident. _

_Memory Yami took a quick glance over his shoulder watching as Yugi laced his hand tightly with Ryou's to combine the forces of their magic. Both lights were breathing hard, struggling to keep the shield surrounded around everyone. It would be nice to end this quickly. These people had a huge size advantage, if this was going to end they would have to do so quickly. Turning back to the front of the room, Memory Yami's allowed his fingers to twitch in an almost inconceivable of signals, unless one was waiting for it._

"_Man eater bug, Let's show these people what they've gotten them-self into, shall we?" Bakura drawled, his eyes leaving Yami's fingers to the corner in which the monster was hidden. The six foot tall bug released a large growl as it shot from the shadows. The grey green armour shone in the light, and its huge pincer snapped menacingly_

_Like a bullet it shot forward and grabbed onto the blonde woman with its pincers. The moment the summoned monster came into contact with the mortal soul however, her body shuddered and went limp, no longer fighting. The man eater bug growled once more as it released her body, the now soulless husk dropping bonelessly to the floor._

"_Stupefy!" Conners cried in alarm, his own stick pointing at the bug. But the stream of light shot straight through the monster and fizzled harmlessly against Ryou and Yugi's completed shield._

"_It was not wise," Memory Yami said, flexing his arms as dark magic danced threateningly around his fingers. On his other side, Malik plucked the millennium rod free from his thin belt, the eye glowing. The smirk on Yami's face grew, as he saw this, turning to watch the attackers with a wicked gleam in his eye "to play a game with us. For we never lose."_

_Screams echoed as Memory Yami's spell struck home. The dark spell twined up their legs, with just a simple motion. Five men dropped, writhing in invisible agony. It was as close to anarchy as the modern age can reach._

_Malik was using the rod whenever he thought possible. The golden light from the item waved over one of the men, and his blue eyes dulled before turning on his comrade, stick at the ready. The screams grew louder as comrade started to turn on comrade, and their members started to drop like flies around them._

_Yugi winced as another stream of sparks like spell struck against his shield. This was starting to draw his energy as shots both friendly and foe collided with his shield. It was impossible to aim in a fight like this. With so man people jammed into the room. Yugi's knees were starting to shake, wanting to collapse out from under neath him, and judging by how much Ryou's hand shook within his own, it was obvious Ryou wouldn't last much longer either._

_Memory Yami's concerned face turned around as his magic struck another attacker, two more men collapsing to the ground. Even from inside his memory self's body, Yami could feel the fast drain of his lights energy. But Yugi just smiled and waved off Memory Yami's concern before turning back to the fight and his shield._

_This would be over soon, Yami realized with grim satisfaction. Memory Yami and the others had already cut down more than half of these people's numbers, and the other's looked terrified, shaking in their boots. It had taken them long enough to figure out, Yami thought watching through his memory self's eyes at the pale faces of the attackers, that there 'magic' had no power over the power of the items. _

_With another swish of his wrist, Memory Yami dropped another two men, pausing slightly to catch his breath. The attackers had paused as well however, their sticks sill poised at the ready, but no longer attacking. Everyone one of the foreigners eyes were drawn to the bodies of their partners, limp and soulless. Some completely devoid of life, others shaking and yelling, trapped in there own permanent nightmare._

_Crack,_

_Crack,_

_Crack._

_Memory Yami's head whirled around the room, as the loud cracking noise from before started up again. In the middle of the apparent standoff, groups of people started to disappear, leaving behind only that loud crack._

_The same crack that had erupted behind him._

_Crack,_

_Crack,_

_Crack._

_A tight arm was rapped around Anzu's throat. A huge, brown haired man towered over her slim body, lifting Anzu up so high that she had to strain to keep the very tips of her toes on the ground. The slight scared whimper became mingled with a chocked gurgle as the arm cut of air flow and the stick was pressed to Anzu's skull, digging into the sensitive flesh._

_Honda grunted beside Anzu as he was forced onto the ground, a sharp knee digging into his back as he was held down by a thin, short red haired woman. The petite woman grabbed a fistful of Honda's hair as she balanced on his back, forcing Honda's head to tip back at an awkward angle, her own stick gabbed ruthlessly at Honda's exposed throat._

_In the seconds that followed, three people disappeared from one side of the room to the other. Conners joined his men in this transition,standing with his feet planted on either side of Jounouchi's limp body, the unknown weapon pointed threateningly at the blond's chest. A huge smirk spread across Conners' face as he leaned down to survey the peaceful features, looking up to wink at Memory Yami._

_From beside Conners, a fifth man reached out to grab onto Yugi's forearm. The light yelped as his concentration on the shield was suddenly broken by his arm being ruthlessly forced behind his back, and twisted until the tips of his fingers were touching the base of his neck. Yugi whimpered at the pain, tilting his head to the side to glare at the offending person. But Yugi froze, when the cool tip of the stick was pressed against the side of his head, forcing Yugi's head back around to face the Darks and Malik._

_Yami could feel the strain on his shoulder joint through his memory's self link with Yugi. The pain was too much and had come far to quickly to be able to put up a proper block against it. Luckily however the pain had been dulled by the link, and even though it felt as if his shoulder joint could be ripped from it's socket at any moment, Yami knew that he would have no problem moving it if need be. And as his anger built up and rage flashed in Memory Yami's eyes, Yami knew that this was a blessing._

_No one touched HIS light._

_Without even thinking about the purpose or the intent, the dark spell leaped free from Memory Yami's control, searing through the man's body like a bolt of electricity. The gip on Yugi's arm was immediately released as his body started to seize uncontrollably, far more than any of his comrades had. His eyes flicked into the back of his skull as the magic took hold, and an ear splitting scream filled the room as he fell to the ground in a twitching heap._

_Scrambling over the shaking mass of limbs, Yugi quickly ran over to where Memory Yami was standing. The latter quickly reaching out to grab onto Yugi's wrist roughly, and yank Yugi behind him before backing against one of the side walls. He was careful however as he pressed Yugi into the wall, to keep on eye on the people on either side of him. Just to make sure that they did not appear behind him at the last second._

"_Give up!" Conners shouted from his position standing over Jounouchi. "Or they get hurt. We didn't want to involve the muggles, but you have left us with no other choice."_

"_Of course, that makes so much sense, just give up." Bakura asked sarcastically, moving slightly so Ryou was hidden behind him. "You've lost more than half of your members. Even with your hostages, we could knock you all out in a heart beat."_

"_Do you really think that we wouldn't come prepared for this scenario?" Conners said, keeping his weapon pointed carefully at Jounouchi's chest, the threat evident. "We've been watching you for a long time now, and we know that none of you are used to fighting large numbers for very long. Your friend with the fancy wand doesn't have any energy left to perform another imperious curse, and I am willing to bet that neither you nor the boy with the fancy hair can take down more than one of us at one go anymore."_

_Memory Yami's eyebrows tightened, the only physical sign showing his frustration, he refused to let a scowl settle across his features. There was no way that Yami could let any of these people know that they were starting to get to him. Conners words were not much short of the truth, that Yami knew for sure. They had been slowing down, neither his Memory Self, Malik or Bakura had fought this large of a group before. All three of them were exhausted and magically drained. _

_Conners seemed to know that. Hell the man had exploited it down to the last letter. This was what Yugi had been talking about earlier, Yami thought with a groan, feeling his Memory's muscles tighten and his mind whirl in an attempt to fide a way out. The shouldn't have underestimated these people. _

"_Now" Conners said, casting his gaze to each member of Yami's group before continuing. "It's obvious that we have control right now. If any of you try to save your friends, the others die. Unless one of you comes with us. That's our final offer. All of you go free, except for one."_

_Yami's heart froze in that moment. They had lost, he couldn't think of any way out of this. Conners was right, Malik was barely on his feet anymore, Yami could here his ragged breathing from where he stood. Not that he or Bakura was much better. It was far to risking to even consider allowing Yugi and Ryou to fight. Besides the obvious desire to keep Yugi out of danger, their light was far to indiscriminate to use in such close quarters, not to mention the scarring affect it would have on the Hikaris if something went wrong._

_Although under no circumstances could Yami allow any of them to go with these men. Not even himself, tied to Yugi like he was. And as much as Malik and Bakura had changed, both maintained a rather dominate out for number one attitude, well number one plus Ryou in Bakura's case._

"_Fine, You win. I will go with you. If you swear that you will let my friends go."_

_The quiet, yet crystal clear voice came from directly behind Memory Yami's body. The latter's head whipped around so quickly that Yami swore he felt bones cracking within his past self's neck. /Aibou?/ Memory Yami sent down the link he shared with Yugi, his voice hesitant, almost breaking as he forced the words into clarity._

_/I'm so sorry Yami./_

_The warm hand that had been gripping his so desperately, gently pulled its way free from Yami's grip. Suddenly Memory Yami was left clutching at open air. The warmth of the small body pressed so tightly against him left._

_Conners looked surprised as he stared at Yugi, watching as the teen steeped free of the protective shelter of his dark. It became instantly apparent that the man had not expected his last request to be answered so simply. "Alright then," Conners said, quickly covering his confusion with arrogant satisfaction, "Put your hands on top of your head and step away from your friends."_

_A small sigh slipped through Yugi's lips, and hesitant eyes flickered back towards his friends, training on his darks shell shocked face._

"_Aibou, what are you doing!" Memory Yami asked, his voice bordering on a scream, and in that moment Yami realized that he wasn't the only one who couldn't move, his memory's body was frozen still. /It's a trap! Trying to make us think this is over before they attack us all! So whats the point! Come back to me before you do something stupid!/_

_A sad smile filtered across Yugi's face, and his amethyst eyes lit up with a steely light that Yami hated seeing. The same look that haunted Yami's dreams almost every night. The one Yami had seen against Pegasus, that duel against Jounouchi at the pier, the orchelcos. The look that meant Yugi was going to do something that he wasn't sure he was going to come back from._

_Tears welled in Yugi's eyes as he turned his back to Yami, and shaking hands were placed on top of head in a show of submission. /No, they won't. I'm going to cast a spell to make sure you are safe. The others will be alright as long as they have one of us. It'll be okay Yami, I promise./_

_It was then Yami noted the feeling of magic that had swelled up behind him, and the barely noticeable glow of light magic. Yugi was making a portal, keeping it all but invisible to all those but a wielder. Almost immediately as the shimmering doorway finally swelled to its full size, Yami could feel its draw. The sweet intoxication of Yugi's light drawing him closer, and bathing his skin in warmth._

_/It will take Jounouchi, Anzu and Honda home./ Yugi was projecting his thoughts now. No longer speaking just to Yami, but to Bakura, Ryou and Malik as well. /And you four to a place where they won't find you. You'll be safe./_

_Yugi's words were final as he finally finished his slow walk towards his now captors, staring up at Conners and his people with a set look of determination on their face. Now that they had their apparent prisoner, these people had released their hostages, stepping over to were Conners stood to make sure this wasn't a trap on Yugi's part. Yet Conners was glaring at Yugi, looking down at him like he was the dirt underneath his boots._

_With a quick word, that sounded distinctly like latin, heavy chains twisted free from Conner's stick. Slinking like snakes, the chains twined themselves around Yugi's wrists, trapping them against his chest as another wrapped around his chest, trapping his forearms to his sides._

_Memory Yami growled, the sound almost inhuman, as his eyes started to glow an unholy shade of blood red, saved entirely for the person who dared to take his Hikari. For the first time both Yami and his Memory self was working completely in synch._

"_Bakura! Stop him!" Yugi called desperately, but remained impassive in his bonds. Not fighting to stop his dark as the man started to walk forwards. Yugi could have stopped Yami in a heartbeat, but he didn't have the heart, not right now._

_Looking shocked, Bakura could only gaze at the smallest Hikari like he had grown a third head. "Please Bakura, it's the only way." Bakura's looked over to where Ryou was helping Malik and Honda carry a still unconscious Jounouchi to the portal the attackers cold not see. Anzu already half way through..._

_At the same moment Memory Yami jumped forward in attack., Bakura followed not a step behind and wrapped his arms in an iron embrace around his fellow dark's chest. When it came down to magic, Yami was more powerful than Bakura could ever dream to being, as much as he would rather dig out his eyeballs with a rusty knife than admit it. But right now, Bakura was willing to bet that using his magic was the last thought going through Yami's mind. The emoticons connected with the extreme possessiveness that came with having a Hikari could completely envelope ones sanity and rational state of mind. And when it came down to a physical contest, Bakura easily had the upper edge._

"_Let go of me!" Yami screeched pulling at Bakura's arms desperately trying to escape. "Aibou! Aibou!"_

_At Yugi's nod and tearful smile, Bakura started to back up taking a yowling Yami with him. "Aibou! Release me Bakura! Let go!" But Bakura couldn't, not when Ryou had already gone through the portal. That just wasn't an option._

_Yami was clawing at Bakura's arms now, and blood ran down in shining rivers down Bakura's arms to his wrists. Bakura grunted at the pain, but continued to carry the fighting man. Even if he had to knock Yami out, they would get through._

_/Don't Mou Hitori No Boku, I'll be fine, I promise. P__lease, Atem... I love you so much, but please, don't try to follow me. Be safe./_

"_Stupify"_

_Yami froze, watching with huge eyes as his Hikari's legs gave out and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull. Even as his light's last words echoed around his skull, the only thing Yami was able to focus on was the sight of Yugi, bonelessly falling forward and slumping unconscious against Conners, draped neatly over the larger man's arm._

"_Aibou!" Yami screamed, his fist flailing up to strike Bakura under the chin. Bakura swore as blood started to leak from his lower lip from where his sharp canine had dug into the delicate flesh. Yami slipped out from underneath Bakura's arm as the white haired mans grip loosened and ran toward to the man holding his Hikari._

_Crack,_

_Crack,_

_Crack._

_The attackers were all starting to disappear. To regroup their numbers and to take the fallen bodies of their comrades with them. But Conners, Yugi still hanging limp as death over his arm, did not. Apparently he was determined to stay here a long as humanly possible, to try and get both Yami and Yugi before he left._

"_Crap! Malik Help!" Bakura growled when he finally returned to his senses after the sharp hit to his jaw. Malik looked around from where he was helping Jounouchi through the portal, before sprinting forward to where Bakura was. Each man grabbed hold of one of Yami's arms, straining to hold him._

_Yami was truly fighting now. Not pulling punches, not even caring about the people that were trying to restrain him. Nothing and no one mattered at the moment. If either Bakura or Malik were to let go of him at this moment there was a good chance Yami would kill them both without a moments hesitation._

_Crack._

_At the same moment that Malik and Bakura were able to drag Yami through the portal, Yugi and his captor disappeared from the game shop, leaving behind an empty room that was destroyed by the devastation of the fight._

_Yami tipped his head back, releasing one final ear splitting and wordless scream as his Hikari disappeared from sight. He gave one last try against the iron hold of Malik's and Bakura's grips. But they couldn't let him go, not until they were through the portal..._

_Finally their boots slammed onto the well worn stone bricks and searing heat of the Egyptian under ground pressed in on their skin, so different than the cool japanese air the had left so far behind._

_Everyone froze, stopping to take in their surroundings. Jounouchi wasn't there, nor was Anzu or Honda. True to his word, Yugi had sent the wielders to the safest, most secluded place he knew, while at the same time sending his friends home._

_With gentle care, generally foreign to both men, Bakura and Malik released Yami when the dark weakly started to try and break free once more. Yami's arms feel limply at his sides, and tears streamed down his cheeks._

"_Aibou!"_

_Memory Yami lurched forward and slammed his fist into the stone. Striking it over, and over again paying no heed to the glass like grains of sand that dug into his skin. Screaming as his fists bled, Memory Yami dug into his mind and felt with heartbreaking clarity the exact moment when the delicate link between himself and Yugi started to snap. Inside Yami was screaming as well, curling tightly around the remains of his Aibou's soul, the only part of Yugi he had access to any more._

_There was only one person in the world that Yami was dependant on. Couldn't survive without. The link with Aibou was the first thing he had known awaking into the world, without any memories of a past life. And for a very long time, Yugi had been the only thing that could hear him, touch him... see him. That link was one of the only things that kept Yami grounded._

_And it was barely there._

_Yami clutched desperately at his end of the link, trying desperately to grab hold of Yugi's. As long as it was there, there was a chance they could figure this out. That Aibou was alright._

_Aibou was going to be alright. He had promised._

_He promised_

_/Mou Hitori No Boku!/_

"_Yami!"_

_Almost like a piece of elastic stretched to its breaking point, the bare threads that connected Yugi to Yami's mind disappeared, the rebound hitting Yami with more force than a bullet. It was then that Yami realized why everyone was calling his name, why it had sounded as if Aibou's voice had echoed within his mind... his soul was fading._

_Memory Yami scrambled to his feet as the magic supporting his illusionary body started to fall apart, slipping through his grip like a fistful of sand. Fading... back into the spirit form he had be forced to maintain during the early years as Yugi's shadow, and even that was starting to disappear._

_Someone was taking apart the puzzle. Piece by piece, his soul was being taken apart..._

_...Did that mean?_

_Whipping around to the scared faces of his friends, Yami's face was one of pure rage and pain._

"_Promise me that you will get him back!"_

_The world disappeared into a blinding flare of light, causing pain to sear up his arms... before it all disappeared into nothingness._


	8. Chapter 8

Ch8

Any prediction that Minerva could have produced about the innate curiosity of the students of Hogwarts had been proven an understatement in the days that followed Yugi's abrupt arrival at the hospital wing. All it had taken was a misplaced bludger during Hufflepuff Quidditch tryouts, a broken wrist and a loudmouthed fifteen-year-old to start the mystery of the curtained bed.

The curtain had lived up to its designed purpose of protecting the identity of Yugi, but it had done little else to keep his presence a secret. The next morning during Minerva's Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Transfiguration double, she had served off two detentions and deducted twenty points from each house before they decided it would be smart to quiet down.

The rest of the class had proceeded no better.

Transfiguration was without a doubt a dangerous subject. In fact, Potions was the only class that had more trips to the hospital wing to date. Today, however, it seemed that ratio was coming uncomfortably close to tipping in Transfiguration's favour.

"Let me see if I understand, Miss Patil. Instead of turning your needle back into a match as you were instructed, you've managed to change your fingers into a handful of needles?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the first year Ravenclaw chirped, blowing a long strand of black hair out of her face, as she was unable to remove it with her hands. It was almost unnerving how similar this girl looked to her Gryffindor twin. Minerva had only been hoping that, as a Ravenclaw, Padma would have at least some level of common sense. Apparently Padma and Parvati shared more features than just their faces.

Dark eyes twinkled from the dim light of the candlestick that stood on Minerva's desk. The flickering light illuminated every aspect of Padma's face, including the soft wrinkles around the mouth that were barely hiding a proud smile. "Do you think I will have to go to the hospital wing?"

Minerva paused, looking Padma up and down, from her quivering cheeks to her mutilated fingers. Padma stood stock still under her Professor's scrutiny and flinched as Minerva's eyes hardened behind her glasses.

"No," Minerva said, ice slipping into her tone as she pulled her wand free from her sleeve and tapped Padma's fingers. "I don't think that will be necessary."

A warm glow erupted from the tip of Minerva's wand and washed over Padma's fingers. The Ravenclaw gasped as the needles started to thicken out, losing the metallic sheen and pointed tips which were replaced with soft flesh and electric blue nail polish.

Padma squeaked as she looked back down to her hands, her mouth forming a wide O when she raised her fingers up to her face and flexed the digits.

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Patil, and a detention with me this evening," Minerva snapped, watching as Padma scurried back to her seat and sat down, truly desperate to hide her flaming red cheeks from the prying eyes of her classmates.

Minerva stood up, her high-backed wooden chair scraping against the stone floor of the classroom. The remaining students froze and immediately fell silent, every eye on the Transfiguration teacher as she swept into the centre of the room.

"On the first day of my class, I do believe that I issued everyone here a warning," Minerva began, pacing from one side of the front row to the other. Every single face followed her movements. "That if _anyone _in this room fooled around in my class, they would not be welcomed back."

The colour had left Padma's face, the embarrassed shade of red fading into an odd grey-green colour. Her wand slipped through numb fingers as she collapsed bonelessly onto the smooth surface of her desk. The Hufflepuff sitting behind Padma immediately extended a consoling hand to rub her back.

"I am aware of the rumours going around the school and will accept that with your inquisitive minds you will do just about anything to get into the hospital wing. That is why you can consider this your final warning. If anyone uses my class to deliberately injure themselves again, I will personally make sure that all your new Transfiguration-free time will be spent helping Mr. Filch."

The class was barely given a second to consider the possibility of working for the well-hated and feared caretaker before the bell rang. The shrill, chiming sound hadn't even finished its first cycle before Minerva's classroom was empty once more.

Minerva sighed as she collapsed into her chair, resting her back against the smooth wood. This was becoming ridiculous. Every class for the last two days she had delivered the same warning. No matter the year, there was always some idiot who would use her class as a get-into-the-hospital-wing-free card.

Fred and George Weasley had transfigured another student, for goodness' sake! Potions must be an absolutely traumatizing experience; Minerva was almost afraid to ask how Snape was dealing with the whole ordeal.

The second bell came and went, jolting Minerva from her thoughts. The last class before supper she had as a spare, which she had been planning to fill with a visit to Yugi. There hadn't been time to do so since her first visit – a combination of being far too busy with classes and partaking in numerous meetings with Albus, all of which pertained to the single piece of gold that rested in her pocket, feeling far heavier than it ought to have. For hours, Albus and the staff of Hogwarts had been discussing the final piece of the Puzzle.

Cornelius had seemed determined to keep the Puzzle away from Yugi, and while Yugi was under no circumstances to be treated as a prisoner while he was at the school, they were unsure as to whether they should allow him to complete the Item – an Item of which only one piece had been able to possess a fully-trained wizard.

Albus, however, in his usual rather boyish manner, had seemed far more curious than concerned about the whole matter. He had raised several good points. Hogwarts was the safest place in the wizarding world. If they had been able to keep Voldemort out at the height of his powers, Albus was positive that they could control what latent powers Yugi had, especially if they gave the boy no reason to have to defend himself.

It was not a short walk from Minerva's classroom to the hospital wing, but the trip seemed far longer than usual as Minerva struggled with her dilemma. At the moment, the Puzzle piece was being kept in a magic-repressing bag that had been dug out of the depths of one of Albus' many cupboards.

For the tenth time that day, Minerva pulled her hand away from that pocket, the appendage falling limp at her side as she forced herself to start walking once more. It almost had an addictive quality to it. When she finally grew close to the hospital wing, however, the dull murmur of hushed voices drew her attention, and the Puzzle piece was wiped clear from her mind.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were standing in the corridor across the hall from the hospital wing when Minerva made her way down there. As the head of Gryffindor house, Minerva had a rough idea of where her students were supposed to be, and she knew that at that moment the first year Gryffindors were supposed to be in History of Magic with Professor Binns.

Instead, however, they were pressed up into a corner, hidden in the shadow of a large unicorn statue. It was obvious that neither boy had seen their Transfiguration professor, because they continued on with their hushed conversation as if nothing were wrong. So Minerva paused for a second, listening to what amazing plan these two had come up with.

"Oh, come on, mate. Fred swears this spell is foolproof. All it does is make you throw up once or twice, and then it wears off. Don't be such a chicken."

That was Ron. The shock of red hair and the height that rivalled that of any fourth year made it easy to spot the entire family from miles away. He was clutching a small piece of parchment in his hands, waving it in Harry's face – obviously the aforementioned spell.

Potter, on the other hand, had a rather hesitant expression on his face, and for reasons that Minerva could easily understand. The symptoms that Mr. Weasley had so proudly announced sounded like no first year-level spell she could think of. In fact, only a few fifth year curses were coming to mind right now.

"Ron, I don't think this is a good idea," Harry whispered, staring at the piece of paper as if it were a venomous spider. "I mean, did you hear the way Hermione was laughing when you read it out?"

Ron shrugged, reading over the parchment one more. "Yeah, well, she laughs at everything I say, know-it-all git."

"What I'm saying is that she only laughs like that when you're about to mess up a spell. So I'm saying that I am _not _going to be the victim in this."

"But Harry!" Ron cried, looking for all the world as though someone had stolen his wand and snapped it in half. "How can you say that? This spell could be our only chance of sneaking into the hospital wing and seeing whatever it was that Dean was so excited about this morning. It's your _duty_. Where's that Gryffindor spirit?"

Enough was enough. Minerva gave a loud cough as she stepped into the boys' limited line of vision. Both Ron and Harry jumped nearly a foot into the air as she walked up in front of them. Ron hastily shoved the piece of parchment back into the pocket of his robe while Harry's expression quickly folded into that of mock innocence.

"I may be mistaken," Minerva said, pushing her square-rimmed glasses a little further up her nose, "but last time I checked, History of Magic was not across the hall from the hospital wing. So why, I must ask, are you two standing here and not in class?"

Both Harry and Ron looked to each other. Even from a distance, Minerva could see the gears working in their minds. The only rumour spreading around the school faster than the hospital wing mystery right now, to Minerva's knowledge, was the rumour of how many detentions she had handed out today alone.

Ron was biting his lip as his ears turned a more vivid red then even his hair. Harry, though, had squared his shoulders, straightened up a little bit and said in an almost innocent voice, "I'm not sure, Professor. I think we're lost."

If Mr. Weasley had been doubting Mr. Potter's Gryffindor spirit, he could now rest easy. It seemed to be in fine working order. "Mr. Potter, most students figure out the way the school works in the space of the first two weeks. How is it that even after a month you end up in the complete opposite end of the school?"

"I have no idea, Professor, but we're going to go and figure that out right now, aren't we, Ron?"

Ron nodded in shell-shocked agreement, not even noticing as Harry grabbed onto his wrist and started to pull him in the direction of the stairwell.

"Boys, if I catch you down here again without a broken bone or pneumonia, then you are both going to have a detention."

Minerva didn't hear a response, but she knew the boys had heard her and that was enough for now.

Madam Pomfrey was pacing around the room when Minerva walked through the door. The school nurse's arms were overflowing with bandages and bottles of a clear liquid. Blinking at the odd ensemble, Minerva ran forward to help, taking a handful of the tightly rolled cloth. Somewhere beneath the mass of material, Minerva was finally able to spy Poppy's still frazzled-looking face.

"Oh, hello, Minerva!" Poppy said as she bustled over to the curtained bed in the far corner of the hospital wing. "So good of you to drop by."

Minerva followed Poppy's example, placing her portion of the bandages on a small stool as Poppy dragged back the curtains that were hiding her patient. "I know that it's been a while, but things have been so crazy lately. Has there been any change?"

A small furrow appeared between Poppy's eyes as she sat down on the side of the bed. "It's hard to say for sure. He finished that Puzzle of his with all the pieces he had, but when he realized a piece was missing, poor dear just fell over unconscious. It's good that he's getting the rest he needs and it seems to be natural, but he refuses to wake up."

"Magical Exhaustion maybe?"

Poppy nodded her head in agreement as she reached out to grab onto Yugi's limp arm and started to unwrap the blood-stained bandages. "Yes, almost a textbook case – however, without any magic I can't do anything to help him. I also have no idea what could be causing it. He hasn't used any magic since that one little incident at the Ministry, and he should have recovered from that by now."

Minerva stared as the long, nasty-looking cut that was almost sure to scar was bit-by-bit revealed. It ran along the most sensitive skin on Yugi's arm, designed to hurt. Sitting down on Yugi's other side, Minerva moved to the bandages on his thigh, slowly unwrapping those as well.

"I think it must have something to do with the collar that the Minster placed around his neck," Minerva said finally. "I don't know what it does and Fudge was by no means willing to explain at the time, but it's definitely a Ministry device."

"Maybe..." Poppy said, running her fingers over the air above the smooth piece of metal. "I want desperately to take the blasted thing off of him. I may not know what it's doing, but it's not good whatever it is. Again however, no magic means no help."

For the next little while, both woman sat in silence as they slowly began to re-bandage Yugi's wounds. It was a slow process, as Minerva would occasionally have to stop and ask for instructions, but eventually they finished the disgusting job. A pile of blood-soaked bandages unraveled onto the ground. In the end, the only cut still open was the gaping gash on Yugi's shoulder.

Poppy reached forward and grabbed one of the bottles of clear liquid. Minerva looked at it quizzically as Poppy unscrewed the cap. An odd smell filled Minerva's nose – the only word she could use to describe it was sterile. It was almost acidic and seemed to burn at her nose.

"Rubbing alcohol," Poppy explained. "It's a Muggle substance used to disinfect wounds, very different than the normal alcohol we drink. Unfortunately, it's rather painful for the patient, but it's the only thing Severus was able to make that wouldn't affect Yugi's sensitivity to magic. Luckily for the dear, he shouldn't really feel it."

Poppy picked up a clean, white cloth and covered the top of the bottle with it. Then, with a definite turn of her wrist, Poppy turned the bottle upside down, letting the alcohol soak the cloth.

The wound on Yugi's shoulder was looking far better than it had before. The dark purple bruising had disappeared, leaving only red. The pus had all but disappeared as well, leaving a clean wound. With careful precision, Poppy dabbed the cloth along the cut, never pressing down too hard or rubbing, but just dabbing gently.

"His fever broke last night," Poppy said as she removed the cloth and placed another white cloth and bandage that she wound tightly around his upper chest and opposite shoulder. "I hope that's a good sign. If he wakes up soon, then he'll be fine."

Minerva nodded, standing up from her stool and walking towards the open window that Yugi's bed faced. The sun was slowly starting to set, covering the lake in brilliant gold. Taking a deep breath, Minerva placed her hand into her pocket once more and pulled free the dark, velvet bag.

Poppy came over, looking over Minerva's shoulder at the bag. "Is that it?" she whispered, as if there were someone in the room to overhear, or if she spoke too loudly the piece could reach out and bite her.

Minerva nodded, sitting down on a small, wooden stool that rested by Yugi's bed. "Albus seems to want him to have it, and part of me agrees. Another part of me is afraid of what will happen. Severus is right: as much of an idiot as Fudge is, he must have taken the Puzzle away from Yugi for a reason. I don't want to risk the students' safety."

Poppy sighed, bringing her hands up to her face. She stood there, hands pressing into her eyes as if trying to remove the exhaustion that was plaguing her body so heavily, both mentally and physically. "I understand, Minerva, but I also agree with Albus. Once Yugi finds out that we are taking care of him, he won't be hostile. He seems like such a sweet boy and I want him to be well again. In my opinion, the Puzzle is what helps."

"All right," Minerva said, nodding. Hesitantly, she pulled at the silken rope that tied the top of the bag together. The knots slipped open without a problem and she placed her hand inside, withdrawing the last piece of the Puzzle.

Minerva looked at Poppy, who gave a quick nod of encouragement, before taking a deep breath and reaching over to Yugi, slipping the last piece of the Puzzle into its slot.

/

Crimson eyes snapped open as their owner gulped in a lungful of air. Yami's body jerked while he coughed and spluttered as his lungs expanded desperately, trying to take in as much of the life-giving substance as possible. His lungs were burning as if he had been holding his breath for much longer than his body cared for.

For several minutes, Yami lay on his back, trying to get his lurching body under control, at least for long enough to focus on what was going on around him. When oxygen finally started to flow to his brain, his senses began to wake up, no longer caged by the heart-gripping panic of asphyxiation.

Yami was back in his soul room. The surreal labyrinth of his mind was taking form before his very eyes – staircases that lead everywhere yet nowhere and doors that appeared in any place that the mind could produce. Physics had no bearing here, in the place that continued to taunt Yami with the unreachable goal buried so deeply in the Puzzle.

If Yami was back in his soul room, then the Puzzle must have been solved once more. The mind-numbing darkness from before was gone, taking the bone-wrenching cold with it. Hesitantly, Yami curled long fingers around the edge of the step he was lying against. A sigh of relief slipped through his lips as he felt the appendages respond and experienced the cool, rough texture beneath his fingertips.

He was really back. Yami knew he had to be – he was able to command his body on his own, or whatever representation of a body the Puzzle allowed him to have – and if he was back, that meant the Puzzle was back together, which meant that Yugi was in control of the Puzzle again, for the Millennium Puzzle wouldn't let anyone besides Yugi solve it. But if Yugi was in control of the Puzzle, then why couldn't Yami feel the link? Yami paused as he let his mind run over the section that was usually reserved for Yugi's thoughts alone, but there was only silence. He could still feel its presence... but he couldn't hear anything coming from it.

Before Yami even knew what was happening, he was on his feet and running towards the door in his soul room. Yugi's side of the link was always open, _always. _Even when he was annoyed with Yami, even after their second duel with Kaiba Yugi had left the link partially open. Yami barely knew what silence was anymore; he could always feel Yugi's thoughts bubbling over the top of his own. Dead silence was unnerving, yet he could feel it right now, as keen as a knife blade.

"Aibou?" Yami cried, listening to his own voice echo around the stone walls of his soul room. There was no response to his cry. A lead weight dropped into the pit of his stomach.

Why wasn't Yugi answering?

"Aibou, please, this isn't funny anymore."

Faster and faster Yami's steps became, until he was moving at a full sprint.

"Aibou! Aibou, where are you!"

The last time Yami remembered seeing his light, Yugi had been all but kidnapped by a group of people who were clearly unopposed to violence as a means to get what they wanted. On the other hand, Yami was ninety percent sure that Yugi was the only one that could solve the Puzzle. The incident with Black Clown had answered that question. So Yugi had to be all right, had to have enough control to put the Puzzle back together.

But why had it been broken in the first place?

The questions were starting to make Yami sick to his stomach. He couldn't handle them at the moment, so he let his entire mind focus on finding Yugi. The steel door that marked the edge of Yami's soul room swung open without hesitation, allowing access to the hallway between his and Yugi's minds. Yami coughed as the sudden dry taste of dust filled his mouth and nose. The first step into the hallway had caused a sudden blast of decay and icy wind. The hallway felt dead, like his soul room. The sudden shock to his system had not come so much from the change of environment, but from the unexpected lack of change.

The hallway was always a cross between his and Yugi's soul rooms: dark bricks reminiscent of Yami's room, but filled with the light from Yugi's room, with an underlying warmth. But not this time. This time it was far too similar to his room. Slowly, Yami walked into the centre of the hallway, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. As he waited, however, he stumbled in the dark, his boot catching on something.

He stooped down, squinting at whatever had caught in his heel. In Yami's fingers was a large piece of splintered wood, one that looked as if it had been ripped out of a more solid object. He ran the wood over his fingertips.

Where on Earth could it have come from?

Yami's head perked up as the dark hallway started to come into focus, and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him. The only source of wood that could possibly be in their mind was Yugi's soul room door.

The door which stood before Yami in pieces. The door itself was still up – which was not necessarily a good sign, for Yugi only raised his mental shields when he had no other choice in the matter – but there were deep gouges in the dense wood. The surface was littered with scratches and holes, one of which went straight through the door itself.

Yami's mind froze. The whirlwind of questions came to a shuddering stop. With a jerky hand, Yami ran his fingertips over the scarred wood, feeling the rough splinters against his skin. Suddenly, Yami's mind filled with Yugi's thoughts once more, but they were slow and lethargic. When Yami moved his fingers the noise fell silent. Dropping his arm, he pressed a shoulder against the door. It groaned miserably, but remained steady.

Yami had been the one who had taught Yugi how to raise these shields – barriers that could protect his mind from any attack. After Pegasus and during the stint with Malik's evil half, such a thing had become imperative. Yami had created layers of his own spells to reinforce his hikari's mind. It was almost impossible to break without a lot of persistence that would have seemed like torture to Yugi. Yet they had broken through...

If these people were so willing to torture Yugi's mind, what did that mean for the rest of him?

He couldn't wait anymore. Yami couldn't let this play out for another second. Standing in the middle of the desolate hallway, staring at his light's mutilated door, Yami took a deep breath, centring himself. In his mind, Yami envisioned the body he wanted to create – whole and in the outside world.

There was a soft swoosh, and Yami shut his eyes as his body lurched forward. Suddenly, the Puzzle burned hot against his leather shirt. When he opened his eyes once more, however, the entire scene had shifted. No longer was he standing in a dark, enclosed space – quite the opposite, really. High, arched ceiling, whitewashed walls and marble floors. The room itself was huge, open and airy, with wide windows facing out towards the rolling country side.

By itself, the room was gorgeous, but the rows of sturdy medical beds ruined the picturesque vision. Upon second glance, this room was definitely medically-orientated, that much was obvious. There were two doors – one that was open, giving sight to a stone hallway, while the other seemed to give way to an office of sorts, but that was sealed shut.

Yami's eyes quickly scanned the room as he tried to figure out why the Puzzle had dropped him off here of all places. Why was Yugi in a medical room? Wasn't he being kept a prisoner?

And where was he?

There were two other people in the room, standing in the centre near a large wood-stove, talking. Both seemed to be female, wearing the same style of dress as those United Protection freaks, but the colours were different. The tallest, a lean women with a rather severe looking bun wore an elemerald green robe, while her friend wore one made from a soft lavender colour. Neither woman paid any mind to Yami, as one had her back to him and in his spirit form there was no way either could see him regardless. So Yami ignored them.

Just behind Yami was a square of dark blue curtains, it felt different from the rest of the room... like familiar face in a room of strangers. The moment Yami spotted them, he found himself unable to move for a few moments. It was odd how, at one moment, one could be racing to a destination, yet the next be so hesitant about getting fingers danced around the rough material of the curtain, feeling where the edges were, and got a firm grip on it. Eyes squeezed shut, he ripped the curtain back. He could hear the metal rings clang against each other in protest to the sudden movement, but Yami found himself unable to open his eyes.

Until a low groan registered in his mind. Yami's eyes snapped open at the sound of Yugi's pained voice. He was greeted with a sight that forced him to his knees in less time than it had taken to walk to the edge of Yugi's bed.

His light was so pale he seemed grey-faced, the skin pinched and drawn, nothing like the carefree look Yami was so used to seeing. It was obvious that Yugi had lost a lot of weight; Yami could see each and every rib along his light's thin chest. Yugi was curled around the Millennium Puzzle like a cat, his knees drawn up against his chest and the thick chain clenched tightly in his fist. But that wasn't where Yami was looking, instead his eyes fell to the white linen bandages that covered Yugi head to foot. Some were still dyed with the soft red of his blood. The skin that wasn't bandaged was bruised, some still looking fresh. There was barely an inch of Yugi's soft skin that remained uninjured.

"Aibou..." Yami groaned, staring at his light's features, staring desperately at the bandage that covered half his ashen face.

"Oh, Gods..."

The bandages were everywhere – across Yugi's arms, legs, chest – there was more gauze than there was actual skin, and that scared Yami more than he could say. "Aibou. Aibou, wake up," Yami whispered, grabbing onto Yugi's shoulder, careful not to touch any bandaged area. Yugi didn't respond, but curled tighter around the Puzzle. "Aibou, please, it's time to wake up."

Nothing. The only response Yami received was even more colour leaving Yugi's face. All the concern Yami had been feeling fell out of the pit of his stomach like a dropped weight. Shaking hands danced down Yugi's cheek, tracing the bandage that covered his eye, and further down until it jerked away from the raw, oozing, bloody mess of Yugi's neck. The worry and fear was quickly replaced with anger.

Someone was going to pay, and as Yami's attention was once again drawn to the two woman still chatting away, he knew exactly who.

/

"Did you hear something?" Minerva hissed. She could have sworn she'd heard footsteps coming from the far side of the room.

Poppy perked up her head at Minerva's comment and tilted it to the side. "No, I don't hear anything," she said, blinking as she looked around the room. "Maybe you're just hearing things. You must be exhausted, dear. I'm sorry that solving the Puzzle didn't immediately fix everything as you had hoped."

Minerva's eyes had a distant look to them as she slowly turned her head around and nodded. "Yes, well, it was a feeble hope. I'm sure that he'll get better on his own, though… Are you certain you didn't hear anything?"

"Minerva, dear, go to bed. You have class tomorrow and your hard-earned reputation will be tarnished if your class sees you snoring on your desk."

There it was again – the sound of footsteps, followed by the sound of clanging.

"Did you not hear that?" Minerva demanded once more, jumping slightly as the sounds continued.

"Hear what, Minerva?" Poppy said exasperatedly. "There's nothing to hear. It's probably just Peeves being a nuisance."

Minerva shook her head. "No, Peeves isn't allowed in the hospital wing, he knows that. Besides, I've never heard him make footsteps before."

Poppy placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder, leading her towards the door. "Then it's just Mr. Filch. Please, Minerva, it's late. I'm about to close up, so go to bed."

Minerva wasn't looking at Poppy anymore, but instead at the empty air about ten paces in front of her. About to reprimand the professor once more, Poppy turned around and noticed a tray of potions that she kept on her desk had spilt, splattering Pepper-Up Potion everywhere. "What on Earth did that?" the matron said, walking towards the toppled platter with the intention of cleaning up the sloppy mess.

"Poppy, _don't!_" Minerva cried, grabbing onto Poppy's wrist and yanking her back.

"What is it, Minerva?" Poppy snapped, rubbing her shoulder from where Minerva had nearly ripped it free from the socket. "Why are you acting like this?"

"You mean you don't see him?" Minerva whispered, her face losing all its colour rapidly, and still she stared at a point just beside the fallen tray.

"See who? Minerva, what's going on?"

But Minerva didn't respond. Instead, she pulled her wand hand behind her back. A small shower of gold sparks fizzled for a second before they disappeared. In a few seconds they would reappear in front of Albus, signalling that something was wrong. Poppy had fallen silent as she stared at her colleague. As tired as Minerva was, Poppy sincerely doubted she was seeing things. Every indicator of Minerva's body language was rife with tension; the fingers holding her wand shook with the grip she was keeping on it.

"Minerva, what's happening?"

"There's someone in here," Minerva murmured, her eyes darting away from the open space to the Puzzle still clenched in Yugi's hand. Had the curtains around his bed not been closed? The eye piece that Minerva had just placed in the centre was glowing in an eerie light. "I think he came from the Puzzle. He's transparent, though, like a ghost. Looks just like Yugi, yet so different and I don't understand why you can't see him."

"From the Puzzle?" Poppy hissed in return. "Do you think he's the one that possessed Arthur?"

"That's a real possibility, my dear."

Both Minerva and Poppy jumped as Albus entered through the now open door to Poppy's office, having used the fireplace there to respond to Minerva's call.

"It's good you called me, Minerva, but I wonder what we will do with our invisible spectre."

The temperature of the room suddenly dropped and every torch was immediately extinguished. The room was plunged into darkness as even the warm glow that came from the wood-stove was snuffed.

A chilling voice arose from the darkness, far colder than the temperature of the ward. "Oh, I really don't think you will be able to do much of anything."

The shadows of the room immediately seemed to gather where Minerva had been staring so blankly, to form a dark spot so vivid that all three people in the room could easily see the outline of what looked like another body taking form. Glowing eyes stared at them from the mass, unblinking and the colour of freshly drawn blood.

"And for what has happened to my light, I will grant you no mercy."

Minerva jumped at the voice, feeling it dig into her bones like a shard of ice. Albus stepped forward, his wand extended out in front of him, prepared to fight if this got any more out of hand.

"It's all right. Calm down, let's discuss this," Albus said diplomatically, his wand moving down slightly in a show of goodwill. "We both have Yugi's best interests at heart – there's no reason to fight."

"No reason to fight? Aibou's best interests?" The laugh that erupted out of that mouth was insane – not a drop of humanity in the demonic-like sound, no remorse or good humour. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, for if any of that was true my light would not be lying on that bed more than half-dead."

Again Albus stepped forward, waving his hand towards Poppy. "This is my nurse. Her name is Madam Pomfrey and she has assured me that your... light is going to be just fine. You need to calm down."

"You will not tell me to calm down!" Yami screamed, rationality thrown out the window as he lashed out with the Puzzle's magic. One of the fragments of magic emerged from its hiding place on the wall and wrapped around Albus's neck, squeezing tight.

"You expect me to trust you? You dress the same as the people that came to our house and took him away, and carry the same weapons. Weapons that are currently pointed at my heart." Those crimson eyes darted from Minerva to Poppy. Each woman had their wand held in the attack position.

The dark magic tightened around Albus's neck, cutting off almost all of his air supply. The elderly wizard choked, his wand moving up to his neck. A flash of light appeared at the tip, but nothing happened. Albus's blue eyes widened at this, not expecting for his spell not to work. He tried again, and again his wand sparking in all sorts of different colours. But the results where the same and the words disapeared as e choked again, coughing as his hand reached out to scratch uselessly at the shadow. But his fingers just slipped through, coming to rest at his own neck.

"Feeling a little short of breath, old man?" Yami hissed, coming to stand right in front of Albus. "Your magic is useless against mine, as your friends quickly discovered. They only won by a technicality last time, one that I won't grant again!"

"We're trying to help him!" Minerva screamed, attempting to pull the man off of Albus. If only he could see that they had been the ones to rescue Yugi. But the rather animalistic apparition just swatted her away like a fly, not heeding her words. Albus coughed again as the darkness pressed a little harder. The hacking noise changed into a wheeze halfway through.

"Stupefy!" Poppy yelled from behind them.

The cluster of sparks streaked towards Yami, who quickly raised a shield to block the attack. The sudden split in attention, however, caused the spell Yami was previously performing to fall apart and Albus collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

A large smirk settled upon Yami's face.

"So you're the nurse," Yami purred, his head turning so far to the side that his ear almost rested against his shoulder. Poppy felt a chill run up her spine as those eyes looked her up and down. "I was expecting a mouse the way your boss stepped out in front, and instead I get a little lion... How…" Yami paused, his smirk unfaltering as he searched for the right word. "... quaint."

Suddenly, a blast of darkness flared from Yami's lithe form. Minerva and Poppy were slammed up against the wall beside the slowly stirring Albus. Minerva groaned as her back protested the harsh treatment. Yami crouched down beside her, keeping one eye trained on the other two.

"I can smell him on you, my light," Yami hissed, running a single finger across Minerva's cheek. The nail dug into Minerva's skin and a thin river of blood flowed from beneath it. "You have touched the Puzzle as well. That's two crimes against your soul. It's not a wise idea to touch that which is not yours... for you never know when the owner could come looking for it."

Minerva tried to hold in a gasp of pain, bitting the inside of her lip, and made sure to face this man with a steely glare. This had been far worse than anything she had been expecting. Even Albus had proven to be useless against the spectre's magic. He was right, the Minister must have only beaten them by a stroke of luck.

"Aibou is mine," Yami continued, grabbing onto Minerva's chin to ensure she would hear every word. The warmth of his breath tickled her face. "You won't ever have the chance to touch him again. I'll make sure of it."

Yami rose and took a step back, his head tilted towards the ceiling. Minerva could only watch helplessly as he lifted his blood-stained finger and licked it clean. Oh Merlin, this man, whoever he was, was insane, maybe even more so than Voldemort.

"_Dark Game."_

And he was going to kill her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alright you guys, I want you to go easy on me. This is the first dark game I have ever written. And by dark game I don't meaning playing duel-monsters with a few extra magic tricks. I mean Season 0, original manga style dark game. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think! However keep the hysterical laughter to the bare minimum XD

When Minerva opened her eyes, she was no longer leaning against the wall of the medical wing. The white walled room had completely disappeared, without a single trace to represent that the medical wing had even been there in the first place. Instead she was surrounded with a sea of black that was tinged with the occasional shot of dark purple and royal blue.

Thunder crackled over head, Minerva jumped as each rumbling sound crashed in the air. Her eyes darted to the burst of white energy that flashed in the air every time. It sounded close.

Where on earth was she?

"Albus? Poppy?" Minerva called, standing to her feet. She almost lost the sound of her own voice in the oppressive air of wherever this was. She shivered, wrapping her arms tight around herself as she looked for her friends. But there was no one here, it was so cold. "Can anyone hear me?"

So cold, Minerva could feel it snapping at what she had previously thought to be the thick material of her robe. It ate through the fabric as if it had been nothing but silk and nipped at her spine until the shivers that were running through her body became uncontrollable and constant.

Minerva's teeth started to chatter as she slowly started to walk around, forcing her rapidly growing numb legs to respond. The last thing that Minerva remembered was getting into that fight with the spectre that had come from Yugi's Puzzle. The thing that looked so much like Yugi, in an inhuman and insanely cruel kind of way. Then, she remembered what looked like shadows, bleeding from his boots, shadows that had climbed up her body, slipping into every pore until she was completely enveloped.

Then she had woken up here. This wasn't like anything Minerva had seen before, and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't afraid. Reaching into her pocket, Minerva pulled free her wand and levelled it to the air in front of her. She fought to keep her wand had steady, but it seemed to be a losing battle, as even Minerva could see the thin piece of wood shake.

"Lumos."

The ball of light appeared on the tip of her wand, and Minerva gave a small sigh of relief as it illuminated the area around her. The normally incredibly bright light however, only spread a few centimetres. Minerva could only see the tips of her shoes, and the imposing looking steel wall that towered above her. It as if the darkness was too thick for the light to shine.

Footsteps echoed behind her, and Minerva whipped around, following the sounds. The temperature dropped suddenly. In a way a few seconds ago Minerva never would have thought possible, and the light on Minerva's wand flickered and died.

Minerva backed up as the foots steps grew closer and she was plunged into darkness once more. "Lumos." She whispered, her wand flickered for a second before the light fizzled out once more. With a soft thump, Minerva's back collided with the steel wall she had seen earlier. There was no where else to run!

"Lumos. Lumos!"

"There's no use. There is no room for light in a Dark Game. One can only let themselves adjust to the darkness, and hope that's enough to survive."

A roll of nausea twisted in Minerva's stomach, she recognized that voice. As her eyes did indeed slowly adjust to the darkness she was greeted with the lithe form of the spectre once more. Black leather encased legs and chest, boots that echoed across the stone floor, and back, red and blonde hair that shot up to the sky, gravity be damned. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness like those of a cat. Minerva could see their slitted pupils, and was instantly reminded of what Voldemort used to look like. That thought served no other purpose than to scare Minerva further.

"Where am I!" Minerva demanded as she stood up a little straighter against the wall, glaring daggers at the man. "Who are you, and why have you brought me here?"

A wicked looking smirk spread across the spectre's face, brilliantly white teeth shinning as the canine's were revealed. He steeped closer and closer, regardless of the wand that Minerva was pointing at his chest.

Even as Minerva drew the first breath in to word the spell that would make him back away, the spectre's form seemed to flicker, disappear and reappear several feet away from where he was before, now nose to nose with Minerva. The spell hung like a dead weight against Minerva's lips as she had to fight to keep that last syllable in her mouth.

The spectre was leaning chest to chest with her, and a single hand had moved her wand until the tip rested uncomfortably underneath her chin. The amount of leverage this simplistic position granted the spectre was astounding, she was completely immobile.

"It's always the same questions: where, who, why... You may call me Yami, if names are so important to you," he breathed in her ear, so close that Minerva could feel his lips move against the sensitive skin. "and this is a Dark Game, one to punish the travesties that have been committed against my Light's soul, the most unforgivable of crimes."

Minerva fought against the hold Yami had on her, struggling to get free, "Why don't you understand? We're trying to help Yugi, not hurt him. We didn't do any of this!"

Yami with a soft growl only pinned her closer to the wall, despite him being shorter and lighter than her. The hand that kept Minerva's wand against her chin pressed in closer and Minerva bit back a whimper as the wood bit into her skin.

"You should be careful not to lie in the presence of a Dark Game. For it could easily be considered cheating, which will only serve to make your punishment more severe." Yami purred, before taking a step back, moving out of Minerva's personal space. "Aibou was in your presence. I can smell his blood, his fear all over you. There for you take the blame, and for that you will play a Dark Game."

_Dark game_... Minerva didn't understand what Yami was talking about, if anything this sounded like a twisted thing little kids would play. Game... Now that Minerva looked back onto everything Yami had said, the way he had spoken earlier, he seemed to take everything as a game: "_they only won by a technicality last time"_. This man was absolutely insane, she couldn't risk not taking this man seriously. Minerva doubted that anything entitled game in this man's mind could be considered positive.

"What is this dark Game" Minerva finally asked, watching as Yami backed away and placed a hand on his hip, staring at her like a cat with a mouse.

The smirk on Yami's face grew into a sneer, and he raised a hand into the air, drawing Minerva's attention to the steel wall before her. Minerva turned around, starring at the opposing structure.

Now that she could see at least some details in the inky, heavy darkness, Minerva was able to spot a heavy looking door crossed with heavy bolts. As her eyes drew around, past the door and to the walls, Minerva realized that it was not just one structure as she had originally thought, but a box. She could see the sharp looking joint from were the original wall formed with another.

Yami grabbed onto Minerva's forearm, and she gasped as that suffocating cold she had felt earlier returned with a vengeance. She squeezed her eyes shut against the unfamiliar, unbearable feeling of cold suffocation. It felt like she was dying being ripped apart, more so than even doing a side along aparation. Minerva could hear Yami chuckling in her ear, she could easily pick up the mocking tone.

Suddenly the darkness removed it's vice like grip on her lungs, and Minerva stumbled as she tried to regain control of her breathing. Her stomach was threatening to leave her. Placing her hands on her knees, Minerva fought against the urge, shaking softly.

Yami ignored his opponent as he gazed around the room, taking in the insides of the steel box. It was over three times as wide as he, and several feet high. Roofless as one could expect, for what reason would a dark game need to keep out the elements? Along the ground was a tile floor. Each tile was split up with seemingly random scrawled designs of black and gold. Deep groves separated the tiles, except for one square tucked into the left corner by the door. It appeared that the tile was missing there, leaving only the smooth stone floor that had appeared outside the room.

"A dark game..." Yami began, pacing around the room, placing his hand on the glass wall which gave light to another room of identical appearance. "Is used to test the souls of those who play, and to punish those who commit wrongs. A game is played, and the winner goes free, while the loser plays a penalty game. There is always a loser."

Yami waved his arm around the small room, inviting Minerva to look around. "I have challenged you to a dark game, and we will not be transported back until the game is complete."

"What are we suppose to be doing?" Minerva asked apprehensively, this wasn't something she understood. There wasn't anything in this steel box that could constitute a game of any sorts, or at least not one that Minerva recognized. The floor was the only thing that looked even the slightest bit out of place, not made of steel like the rest of the box, but of obsidian and gold. "What's the purpose to this?"

Even as Minerva spoke, she had unconsciously shifted her weight onto the tile before the large empty space. Wit a loud creak the square slid backwards, taking Minerva with it. She yelped as her entire body suddenly started to move. Jumping back, Minerva clung as close as she could with the far wall, watching with amazement as the tile and empty space changed places.

Yami was watching with a wicked look on his face as Minerva slowly figured out the game. "This is called a tile puzzle." he drawled, moving into the dead centre of the puzzle, his cat like movements not even causing the puzzle pieces to shake. "The goal of this game is to be the first to escape from the room. The only way to do this is to put the puzzle back together. For once you do, the exit will appear. Understand?"

Dimly, Minerva felt herself nod, despite the rest of her body screaming her denial What in Merlin's name was a tile puzzle? Arthur had told them that the item around Yugi's neck was a puzzle, she recognized the word. This one seemed to be a different type. Even as she cast her gaze around the small room, Minerva could feel the hopelessness sink in. There was no picture of what she was supposed to be creating, like Arthur said there almost always was for puzzles. it was just a disjointed mass of gold lines and black background.

"How do I know that you are not cheating?" the question slipped out before Minerva had even thought the words through. However she was really starting to feel the desperation. This puzzle made no sense to her what so ever. Maybe with a bit of effort she could convince Yami to play a game that was better suited for her, at the very least one where she understood what on earth she was supposed to be doing...

At least that was the plan.

Yami blinked at Minerva's words, and his body grew more taunt than a dragon's heartstring. "Cheating?" he asked incredulously, an angled eyebrow rising into spiky blond bangs. "Explain."

Taking a deep breath, Minerva fought to keep her voice clear, calm and steady. "Well you created this game didn't you? Then that mean you know what the picture is, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage."

Yami snorted as his eyes narrowed, "You actually have the nerve to accuse me of foul play? I'll give you credit, you're far braver than the people I used to play these games with. Or more stupid." Yami said , scorn dripping from every syllable. For a moment, Minerva felt herself falling into the charismatic voice, believing every word. This man would do well as a politician... "To answer your question, I didn't create this game. The items create the dark games in accordance to the travesty of the crimes committed. I know just as much about the game as you do."

"That's just the thing, no you don't!" Minerva snapped, causing Yami's head to tilt slightly to the side in question. "I have never even heard of a tile puzzle before. The only reason I know what a puzzle is from Yugi putting together his and from the descriptions I've received from a friend, but those don't match this monstrosity. How on earth could this be considered fair?"

Since this game had started, the insanity that seemed to cling to this man like a cloak had all but washed away. As if he was more at home in this dark abyss, the feral persona replaced with a frustratingly cocky smirk that spread across his thin foreign features. For the last ten minutes or so, Minerva had desperately wanted to scrape his face clean with a carving knife. All thoughts of violence immediately fled with their tails between their legs however, when Yami's expression darkened once more. That zealous, possessive feeling madness taking over everything.

Yami's fist's clenched so tightly Minerva could see them shaking, and for a few seconds they seemed to flicker and waver, changing from solid flesh to the dark, wispy shadows that had brought Minerva here in the first place. Red eyes, supernatural in their own right due to their colour, began to glow, running Minerva's blood icy cold. "You dare speak Aibou's given name so callously?" Yami spat out through clenched teeth, taking a single step forward.

The momentary flash of bravery that Minerva felt had not really been worth it in the end. For even as she tried to take a desperate step away from her attacker, the temperature dropped so much that her robe froze to her body. Her muscles cramped and knotted before they they locked, causing Minerva pure agony as she collapsed to the ground

Yami crouched above her, the angry gleam in his eye had seemed to grow in a way that should not have been possible. Yami grabbed onto the collar of Minerva's robe and pulled her up to eye level. Minerva bit back as the skin was ripped from chest from the frozen robe and her stiff muscles protested the treatment. "To speak something so precious without a second thought, a gift granted to friends and family alone? What right do you have?"

Minerva felt frozen solid, and it wasn't just because of the cold, the pure intensity of this man had scared her stiff, in a way that even hordes of Dementor's could never even dream of. "Be grateful mortal that from the moment I called this Dark Game your soul is safe until the end, for Ra grant me strength so I don't let your blood run now."

Minerva jumped as his fist collided with the floor beside her ear. The tile immediately cracked under the pressure, Minerva could hear the spiderweb cracks that spread underneath her head. She remained stock still, barely even breathing as the spectre released her robes, and Minerva's head cracked painfully into the tiles.

Yami paused, drawing in a few shaking breaths as he once again tried to regain control of his anger. His chest shook with the very effort, yet Minerva found herself unable to tear her eyes way. "The fact you do not know how to complete a puzzle," Yami said, his voice and face returning back to it's state of cocky indifference, "Does not violate the terms of our dark game, nor does it matter to me. For it's your own ignorance that holds you back. Your people did not grant us any leeway as we struggled to understand what was happening to us, so neither will I grant you a luxury as simple as an explanation."

"But we had nothing to do with this!" Minerva cried, lifting her arms out imploringly. "Please, we weren't involved with their actions.Your fight isn't with us, we just tried to help." Gently, carefully, Minerva rested the tips of her fingers against Yami's bicep, trying to ignore the lack of any human warmth as she desperately tried to make him understand. The man was as cold as death!

Yami yanked his arm free from Minerva's grasp. The sudden movement forced her down to the ground with a gasp, and she could only watch as Yam's body started to disappear into the pitch black. He merged with the dark atmosphere, disappearing steadily until only his face remaining in the darkness

"_Game Start!"_ Yami yelled as the darkness started to envelope his face as well, until there was no one standing in front of Minerva. She blinked as she realized that once more she was alone, trapped in some unknown place. However after a few seconds, Minerva saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and she realized that Yami's form had started to rebuild itself a few feet away.

The wall on Minerva's right, was in fact not a wall as she had originally thought, but a giant window. Through the reflective surface, Minerva could see a room of identical shape and appearance to the one she was currently standing in. Right down to the mass of tiles that made up the floor. Each one seemed to be the exact same place. As far as Minerva could tell, there wasn't a single one out of place.

Yami was kneeling just beside the empty space in his room, staring unblinkingly at the puzzle. It seemed he was completely oblivious to Minerva's prying gaze on his back. Or at least that's what Minerva hoped.

Crouching down, Minerva slowly pushed on a piece of her puzzle, sliding a piece to the left of the empty space into the slot. The idea of this seemed simple enough, no that Minerva actually sat down and thought about it. Just shift the pieces around to make a picture.

Of course it would help to know what the picture actually was.

That thought rocked around in Minerva's mind with the force of a Fanged Frisbee. The more Minerva actually thought about her dilemma, the more annoyed she became. What in Merlin's name was she looking for?

Without pausing to think, Minerva moved five more pieces in rapid succession. With a series of heavy clunks they slid into their new homes. Every time Minerva moved a single piece, at least two others would be forced to move as well, changing the entire array.

After she moved the fifth piece into place, Minerva finally took the time to pause and take a look at the damage. It appeared as if that what Minerva originally considered to be gold lines, in fact moved to form a circle shape. Or at least it looked circular from the 4 pieces she had managed to actually connect. Two sets on either side.

With a triumphant smile, Minerva set about her task, searching the board for a piece that looked like it could match either set she had created. It would have to be an edge, more black than gold, with the gold directed towards the outside. Minerva bit the inside of her lip as she looked for it.

After a few minutes of desperate searching, Minerva finally found her ideal piece, staring at her from the top right corner of the board! Racking her brain, Minerva struggled to see how she could get the item from one side to the other. Reaching forward, Minerva started to push and pull pieces at random intervals, surprised at how easily the piece slid into place. Almost as if there was a direct path for the piece to move into. Minerva's satisfaction grew as she watched the new piece slide perfectly into its new spot.

Minerva now had a half of a half of a circle, and half of that on the other side. In reality that didn't mean to much, without a doubt. But at the moment it felt pretty good.

... or maybe not.

An uncharacteristic swear hung dangerously on Minerva's lips as she realized that in the process of gaining that one piece for her puzzle, she had separated the piece on the opposite side. Not just separated, much to Minerva's chagrin, but spread from one side of the board to the other.

The puzzle was really starting to grate on Minerva's last nerve. Shifting a few more pieces around, attempting to put the pair back together, Minerva only managed to mess the puzzle up even more. Not only was she unable to rematch the pieces, she had completely jumbled the other pieces.

With a huff, Minerva staggered to her feet, cheeks burning an angry red. She couldn't do this! This puzzle was insane, how in Merlin's name was she supposed to solve it? Every single move she made ended up breaking apart as soon as she tried to do something else.

Taking a deep breath, Minerva fought to regain control of her frustration. She would have to be calm to solve this asinine thing. In and out, in and out Minerva breathed, removing her attention from the puzzle for a second. She had to calm down.

Of course, the entire room was basically made up of the puzzle, so takings ones mind off of it was a task all on its own. Unless you looked at the walls or up in the air. Unfortunately for Minerva, in the ploy to ignore the unjustly frustrating floor, looked up onto the wrong wall. Finding not steel as she had originally thought, but glass.

Or more specifically the person on the other side of the glass. Minerva stared blank eyed as she came to the slow and painful realization that Yami already had the top half of his puzzle completed. The golden circle had been revealed to be not a circle as Minerva had thought, but a ring with a smaller piece of gold in the centre.

Yami looked so calm as he worked, not even hesitating as he moved pieces around. The frustration Minerva felt every-time she was forced into taking apart her hard work just wasn't evident here. As Minerva watched she even felt her own frustration start to disappear, only to be replaced with apprehension. Apprehension that was build into good old fashioned fear faster than she could control it.

At this rate, Minerva was going to lose. Yami had this game in the bag. Minerva bit her lip as she stared at her own mess of a puzzle, it didn't look anything like Yami's. Clenching her fists so tight that the nails dug into the sensitive skin of her palm, Minerva felt her heart start to pound so fast that it hurt.

What would happen if she did lose? Yami had mentioned something about a penalty game? What was that? Would he kill her, or would he just leave her here? Trapped in this steel prison for the rest of eternity?

All because she couldn't solve some idiotic muggle game.

The imposing steel walls seemed to close in around her, and the air grew stale and thin. Suddenly Minerva couldn't seem to breath, and her mind froze. If she lost this game she would die, be left in here to rot..

Unless...

The purpose of this game was to escape the room right? The puzzle was the most obvious way out, or at lest the specified one. Minerva knew that she had seen a door when she had first walked in here.

Yes! Turning around, Minerva spotted the door. The same imposing thick steel as the walls, it would have been so easy to miss. Except for the heavy steel, riveted bars that kept the door locked. Identical to the bolts Minerva had seen on the outside.

But when had a locked door ever stopped a witch?

/

"Albus, watch Minerva for me. I'm going to find a potion to wake her up. Why spells aren't working I don't understand."

Poppy had taken complete control of the situation in the hospital wing. Within seconds of collapsing, Minerva had been lifted onto a medical bed, and Poppy had started to search for the reason of her collapse. In the mean time Albus had lifted the puzzle up and off from Yugi's neck once more, looking at the most obvious source of their problems.

The moment that spectre had appeared from the puzzle, he had all but destroyed the hospital wing. Beds had been overturned, a few windows shattered. The worst of it had been the attack on Minerva. They had all seen what Cornelius had been raging about in those few seconds as Black magic had been forced into their systems, effectively defeating every single one of them.

It wasn't Yugi that was the threat however, in that Cornelius had been mistaken... It was who or what ever was possessing his puzzle. The main question that remained was wither or not Yugi was a privy party in all of this, or was he just a hapless host.

By the time both Albus and Poppy had come out of their unconsciousness, they had both been shocked to see the inky darkness that had all but seemed to seep from the spectre's form. The darkness had smothered Minerva until she had become lost in the black substance. By the time it had cleared, both Albus and Poppy had been treated to the sight of Minerva crumbled on the ground. At that moment the spectre had disappeared into the darkness of his creation, leaving them in a false sense of quiet.

There had been nothing to determine what was wrong, Poppy had declared with a pale face. For every single spell Poppy had tried seemed to give the general agreement that Minerva was perfectly healthy. Except for the beads of sweat darting across her forehead, the way her fingers twitched against her sides, and the way her eyelids darted restlessly beneath their lids.

Albus sighed from his seat on the bed between Yugi's and Minerva's. Long fingers clutched at the heavy silver chain of the Puzzle, Albus taking extra care not to touch the item itself. He could feel the sheer amount of magic the item seemed to vibe. More than a dragon, or even a unicorn. And all of it seemed to be contained within a gold upside down pyramid.

This item had been far more of an enigma than Albus had ever though possible, unfortunately not in a positive way. It was obviously more than the conductor they had previously assumed it to be. For it obviously had some magic of it's own. The puzzle almost seemed to be glowing. A light the same colour as the puzzle itself emanating from the eye in the centre.

Judging from the centre piece, the puzzle seemed to be Egyptian in origin. Probably explained the pyramid shape as well. Ancient, but how old Albus would admit he had no idea. To what knowledge did the Ancient Egyptians have of sealing spirits into solid objects? To Albus's knowledge it couldn't be done, bits of a soul maybe. Yet that came with a steep price, and most definitely could not be done with an entire soul. Besides, despite the Egyptian's advanced knowledge of the human soul and the after life, there was no way the wizards of old were advanced enough for this kind of magic.

Tearing his gaze from the puzzle, he looked once more at Minerva's limp form. His a keen eye took in the thin line of sweat the covered every inch of her skin. Albus noticed, with a mild amount of surprise that her collar and the tips of her sleeves seemed to be frozen, despite the warmth that came from the newly lit wood stove. It didn't seem to be melting either. Odd to say the least...

There were rips in her sleeves that hadn't been there just a few seconds before as well. Albus watched with an raised eyebrow as the material of Minerva's robe was suddenly moved, as if all the material had been yanked up from the back to the front. Like someone had grabbed Minerva's collar and pulled her up.

Albus could only sit and wonder what on Earth was happening that could effect an unconscious woman in such of way. That was of course, if Minerva was indeed unconscious. Or had the darkness had something more to play with this than it had originally appeared. A magically enhanced dream sequence? Arthur had noted similar attributes about the people he had seen within the Ministry. Trapped in a Nightmare? That's what Arthur had described it as. It seemed to fit in this circumstance.

A few seconds later, Poppy came bustling around the corner with a tray full of potions that she had just pulled from her stocks. Sitting down on the edge of Minerva's bed, Poppy placed the tray on the bed side table before uncorking them.

The strong smell of pepper filled Albus' nose, allowing him to classify it as a Pepper-Up potion without even looking. Reaching forward, Albus moved to tilt Minerva's head back as Poppy raised the potion to her lips, trying to get the unconscious witch to swallow. The potion ran into Minerva's mouth as a small amount slipped down her chin. With a gentle hand Poppy urged Minerva's body to swallow the spicy potion. Minerva coughed in her sleep, but there was no further reaction.

Poppy's eyes narrowed as she frowned, placing the Pepper-Up potion back onto the tray and uncorked a vivid purple potion. This time when Poppy uncorked the bottle, Albus nearly gagged at the acrid smell that filled his nose. Not a potion he recognized, nor he wagered a potion at all. For this time, Poppy didn't not attempt to make Minerva drink it, but wafted the disgusting smelling substance underneath her nose.

Minerva's nose twitched and scrunched up, but still she did not awake. The frown on Poppy's face grow as she placed the potion back onto the tray, staring at Minerva. "If she had just been unconscious, that should have worked." Poppy said, running a hand through her hair. "That stuff could easily wake the dead. I don't understand what's wrong Albus."

Albus paused, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "The best we can do my dear is wait. I think that this is out of our hands this time."

Poppy nodded as she pulled out her wand, magicking the blankets that were neatly folded at the foot of Minerva's bed to unwrap. With a flick, Poppy moved the blankets overtop of Minerva, carefully tucking them in around her shoulders. "Do you really think that Yugi has anything to do with this?" Poppy asked, turning her attention to the boy on their other side.

Albus shrugged, the material of his robe wrinkling as his narrow shoulders rose up and down. "It's impossible to say at this point. However, one cannot judge a person on appearances alone. Just because Yugi looks like a child, does not mean he is innocent."

With a soft sigh, Poppy nodded, reaching over to snap the cork back into the acrid smelling mixture on the bedside table. She paused mid motion however, when a soft moan filled the air.

Yugi's head shook from side to side slowly, starting to mummer softly in his sleep. An almost unbelievable difference from the dead silence that had reigned over the boy for the last several of days. Reaching forward, Poppy gently brushed the bangs away from Yugi's face, attempting to coax him out of unconsciousness. Yugi groaned at the sensation, his fingers starting to twitch. "Come on Dear, it's time to wake up."

Maybe, if Yugi could wake up he could sort this out. Give some insight onto what on earth was happening. The Puzzle was his after all, even if Yugi was involved with all of this, he could at least provide answers. Standing up, Albus moved to the other side of the bed, crouching on the boys left. His wand hand remained beneath the top of the bed however, hidden from view but at the ready if need be. The appearance of the spectre had changed everything.

For a second the boy's eyes started to flutter and his breathing lost the regularity that came with sleep. Another groan slipped through Yugi's pale lips, this time his voice was more clear in the wordless noise. "You can do it, open your eyes for me dear?" Poppy prompted, her hand slipping to Yugi's fingers. "Squeeze my hand if you can here me."

A few seconds past before small fingers slowly closed around Poppy's hand, maybe not with as much pressure as one could expect from the average teenage boy, but it was enough. Yugi groaned again, and his eyes started to open.

It appeared to be a false start however, as no further movements where made, and Yugi's body started to fall limp once more. Poppy sighed as she slipped her hand free of Yugi's and moved to finish putting her potions away. If he was starting to respond, than the boy should wake up soon. Judging from his reaction time however, that should not be for another day or so. No matter how urgent the issue, if they rushed Yugi's awakening it could cause the boy serious harm. Something the spectre seemed acutely aware of, and willing to avenge.

As Poppy moved to turn towards her storage cabinet once more, a hand on her wrist quickly held her in place. Whipping her head around, Poppy stared at Albus and was about to speak before the elderly wizard placed a finger to his lips and pointed at Yugi.

Following Albus' finger, Poppy's eyes grew nearly twice their size in amazement. Yugi's eyes had remained closed, yet his hand had lifted up off the bed. Reaching blindly, Yugi slowly traced the material of his blanket, following the material up onto the centre of his chest.

"Why do I hurt so much, Mou Hitori no Boku?"

The words were spoken no louder than a whisper, as if the speaker had no voice to allow the words to carry any farther. However in the stunned silence that had befallen the hospital wing, Both Albus and Poppy could hear each and every words as if they had been shouted at the top of his lungs. Both Albus and Poppy could only watch dumb founded as the hand on Yugi's chest moved once more, seeming to grope blindly for something.

A frown appeared on Yugi's already drawn features, and he started to move his fingers way from his chest towards the skin of his neck. Looking for a necklace... or a chain.

"...I can't find the puzzle, do you have it?" Yugi breathed, shock and surprise filtering into his words. It was so surreal, watching this barely conscious boy have a conversation with nothing more than open air. As if he was expecting someone to be sitting on the bed beside him. "Mou Hitori no Boku?"

The silence seemed to draw out as they waited for Yugi to speak again, however the boy never did. Instead the skin between his eyes seemed to furrow in confusion, before amethyst eyes shot open.

As if he was connected by a spring, Yugi shot up into the air. Poppy gasped, not expecting the sudden movement, and she was over by his side in a heart beat. Yugi groaned in pain, clutching desperately at his stomach. Everything hurt...

Why did everything hurt?

As gently as she could, Poppy pressed her hand unto Yugi's shoulder, slowly as not to startle the poor teen. "Yugi, you need to lie down, alright? You've been through a lot, you have to take it slow so you don't tear open an injury."

Yugi was still not fully out of unconsciousness, his eyes were unfocused and hazy as they slowly drew in Poppy's direction. He seemed to stare for a second at the hand on his shoulder, before slowly following up Poppy's arm to her face.

Yugi blinked owlishly as he stared up at the nurse, before his eyes darted to Albus' face. With a small yelp, he scrambled away from Poppy's hold, and pressed himself tightly against the head board. With shaking hands Yugi wrapped his arms tight around his knees, curling himself into a tight little ball.

"Who are you!" Yugi demanded his voice low and hoarse from lack of water. The nagging burn begged for him to stop talking, but he ignored it. His eyes darted from in between Poppy and Albus never staying in one place too long. For the first time since he had arrived at Hogwarts, Yugi appeared to be fully conscious, fully aware and scared out of his mind.

Still shaking, Yugi curled in tighter, feeling the stabs of pain that were driving daggers into his body, protesting every movement. Tearing his eyes momentarily from the two people in the front of the room, Yugi stared down at his body taking in the white linen that covered almost every inch of his flesh. It looked like he had just walked out of the hospital. There hadn't been bandages before... What was going on?

Albus steeped forward, his teeth flashed white in a soothing, charming smile. Blue eyes twinkled from behind his glasses as the smile grew. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and this is Poppy Pomfery." he said, keeping his voice slow and calm. Yugi's head immediately perked up in Albus's direction, and he stared unblinkingly at the man as if gaging the threat.

With the slight flick of the wrist, Poppy watched Dumbledore's wand fall into his sleeve, and he shifted slightly so his open hands were in plain sight. "To answer your next question, which I am sure you would have asked next: your current location is that of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is where we have been taking care of you for the last week or so."

_Witchcraft and Wizardry_ Yugi mouthed, his eyes growing huge at the implication of the words. Sure he had heard of the concept of wizards, who hadn't? Stories filled with wands, dragons and magic potions. It was the possibility of them actually existing that forced Yugi to stop and think. If the Millennium items could exist, which in turn gave a dimension of realism to almost every Egyptian myth, was it not possible that other forms of magic could exist as well?

If anyone had asked Yugi that question before what had happened at his house, he probably would have laughed. There was no such thing as wizards.

Now, however it made perfect sense. The people that had attacked him at his house had been witches and wizards. It explained a lot in retrospect. The sticks they had been holding, were wands. What had he managed to get himself into this time? If he ever got home, Jounouchi would get a laugh out of this...

If he ever got home.

"So you helped me?" Yugi finally said, slowly uncurling from his defensive position. His muscles remained taunt and at the ready however. The boy obviously did not trust them yet, despite Albus' charm which could work wonders on just about anyone. However, from the way he had been treated, it was wonders that he was reacting this well. "Why?"

Poppy smiled as she reached over and poured a glass of water from the pitcher beside Yugi's bed. She passed the glass over to Yugi as she helped him lean against the pillows in a semi sitting position. "Because you needed help." she said, helping Yugi tilt the cup to his lips. "The Ministry had no right to detain you like they did."

Yugi placed a hesitant hand to the glass. He seemed to pear at it's contents for a moment before touching it to his lips. After that preliminary test however, the glass was emptied in an instant. Within seconds Poppy was pouring him another, and this time Yugi held the glass on his own, tipping it nearly vertical in a desperate attempt to drink more. It had been so long since had been allowed to drink as much water as he wanted. It tasted so good.

Poppy placed her hand on the bottom glass, slowly moving it down to a level where Yugi wasn't going to choke on it. "I spent a lot of time making you well, I would really be annoyed if all of my hard work was ruined by you choking to death."

Yugi snorted in an unmistakable chuckle as he lifted the glass away from his mouth, holding the now empty container in his lap. It felt so good to get something to drink after so long without water.

"Where's my puzzle? I would like to know where it is." he asked, his free hand going up to rest slightly at his collar bone as Poppy moved to refill his glass once again. There was an awkward pause, and an unspoken message seemed to flash from between Albus and Poppy. One that Yugi didn't miss.

"Please, if you have the puzzle give it to me? It's really important that I get it back." Yugi knew that the puzzle was what had really in truly got him into trouble in his previous location. It had been his first mistake to show Minister how important the puzzle was to him. Somewhere in the back of his mind Yugi remembered putting the puzzle together, it was all a blur. But if the Puzzle was together then it was far too dangerous to have lying around.

There was that, and the fact Yugi was more than just a little desperate to find the other half of his soul. The place where his others self was supposed to be literally burned. Yugi was tried of being strong, he wanted someone to tell him that everything was going to be alright. He wanted someone to take him home, and make this all disappear.

He wanted his dark.

Yugi watched as Poppy suddenly looked nervous, and as the welcoming feeling slowly started to seep out of the room. That trusting twinkle in Albus's eyes slowly dimmed, and the harsh lines of his face became visible. A fist clenched itself in the pit of Yugi's stomach. From the looks of things he was too late.

A glint of silver caught Yugi's attention. There ,coiled around Albus's wrist was the heavy chain Yugi used for the Millennium Puzzle. The heavy gold pendant swung like a pendulum from it's hoop. The fist in Yugi's stomach clenched even tighter a Yugi noticed the golden glow emanating from the puzzle's eye.

The puzzle only lit up when either Yugi or Yami was using the powers contained with in. Yugi knew that he currently was not using a single drop of his magic. That only left Yami.

"_Mou Hitori no Boku?" _Yugi sent hesitantly down the link. Before, he had been far to concerned about his location to try and figure out why Yami hadn't been responding the first time he had called. But now Yugi was really concerned.

Silence filtered down the link. That fist in Yugi's stomach had moved, threatening to crush his lungs as they became wrapped in a vice grip. "_Mou Hitori no Boku, what's going on?"_

It was more than silence, Yugi realized. Even when Yami didn't respond through the link, Yugi could always sense his presence. A twinge of emotion here, a wisp of a thought there. Except for the few cases where Yami's magic was the one in control. When Yami couldn't risk letting Yugi come into contact or interfere with the dark energies the puzzle was producing.

Yami was playing a dark game...

Whatever colour that had been left in Yugi's faced drained out like water from an upside down glass. Despite how much Yami had changed, he was still that vengeful spirit that would punish anyone who tired to hurt what was his. And Dark Games were still his favourite means of going about it.

Yes, Yami had grown, had changed. He hadn't played a Dark Game in years. Hell, he had even been playing the god guy for several years, saving the world. But Yugi couldn't even imagine what it would have been like coming out of the puzzle, having no idea what was going on. The last memory Yugi had of Yami had not been of Yami's saner moments.

If Yami thought these people where the enemy then he would not be holding back. Yami would not sit around and wait to find out if he had chosen the right people or not. These people seemed to be willing to help Yugi. But if they discovered how dangerous the Millennium Puzzle was, what is to to say that they wouldn't send him back to Minister?

A tremble ran through Yugi's entire body as his mind slowly flowed down to the path of what had happened within the ministry. No matter what happened, Yugi didn't want to go back there, he doubted he could survive hat again.

Casting his gaze around the room, Yugi stared at the rows upon rows of empty beds. This appeared to be some version of a hospital. If this was school, at the very least this room was the nurses office. Which meant that if Yami had preformed a dark game, whoever the victim was had to be in this room. For Yami's opponent would faint the moment the dark game started. The game was nothing more than illusion cast by Yami's magic.

There, two beds away from Yugi's, he found what he was looking for. There was a woman lying stock still on the bed. Yugi watched with a sad expression the shallow rise and fall of her chest, and the sickening pallor that had become her skin. It had all the features of a dark game. "Is she alright?"

Yugi already knew the answer to the question, but at the moment it may be better to seem oblivious in this. Yes these people had helped him, but that didn't mean Yugi was sure he could trust them. Were they only playing nice to see what he knew, before locking him back up again? Was this a different tactic of Minister?

Hesitation, worry Poppy hadn't really bothered with stopping the emotions she was feeling spill onto her face, she was probably too concerned to worry about that. In a way Yugi was grateful, for the nurse did not seem angry at him, there was no resentment. The elderly man, Albus was impossible to read however. He seemed closed off, impassive in a way that Yugi had never seen before. Even without his magic, Yugi was good at sensing emoticons. Body language, eyes, tone... it was almost as if this man was stuck in neutral. It was rather disconcerting actually, Yugi didn't know what to make of it.

It was Poppy who spoke first and Yugi admired her attempt to keep her voice calm and steady, despite the slight waver that she couldn't quite cover. "We don't know, after the attack Minerva fell unconscious, and we haven't been able to wake her up since."

The vice around Yugi's chest tightened, and he released a soft sigh under his breath. He was going to have to have a talk with Yami about the whole attack first ask questions later strategy he seemed to have developed. "Attack?" Yugi asked, choosing his wording carefully, this could get rather messy. With Yami currently in a dark game, and Yugi with no energy or means to defend himself, he desperately needed diplomacy to work. "What kind of attack?"

It was Albus who spoke next, resting against the window between Minerva's bed and his own. "We were hoping that you could tell us." It was a statement and not a question, and Yugi realized that he had been caught. With a gentle toss, Albus threw the Millennium puzzle that had been previously coiled around his wrist into the air. The colour drained from Yugi's face as he watched gravity over take his puzzle, and he attempted to make a reach for it.

A searing pain rushed through his body, and Yugi cried out as he fell onto his back onto the bed, his neck slumped awkwardly against the head his eyes tight and panting shallowly as the pain radiated through his body. Yugi waited fro the resulting crash that would come from the puzzle being shattered. He couldn't be separated from Yami like this, not when their bond was so close to reconnecting. Besides there was no telling what would happen to Minerva if the dark game came to an end like this. Her mind could be stuck in Limbo for the rest of her now more than likely limited life.

It never came however, the crash. As the pain slowly fell down to a reasonable level, Yugi opened his eyes to see the puzzle hanging in mid air between himself and Albus. It hung without any visible means of support, twirling in mid air as if it thought as if it was still being thrown. There were hands on Yugi's stomach, and Yugi looked down to see Poppy crouched down beside him, slowly unravelling the bandages on his stomach.

"That was not necessary Albus." The nurse spoke, sounding all the world like a reprimanding mother. "You nearly gave the dear a heart attack, and you took out all the stitches I spent so long trying to get right."

Albus didn't respond, he only watched as Poppy slowly checked the open wound, before magicking a new bandage from the cupboard and started to wrap it around Yugi's stomach. "Your lucky dear." Poppy said as she worked, pulling the bandages tight to stem the sticky blood that had started to flow, "That the cut closed enough while you were asleep, I won't have to re due the stitches. You somehow managed to rip out all five during your little adventure. I would imagine they would be right painful to have them redone if you were awake. I don't understand muggle medicine sometimes."

But Yugi wasn't listening. Instead he was staring blank eyed at the puzzle, watching as the smooth metal gleamed in the candle light. Albus was watching to, slowly calculating the situation. Yugi truly coveted the item, more connected to it than most wizards were to their first wands. There was no reservations in attempting to save the puzzle, despite causing personal injury. Regardless of Yugi's words, it was obvious that Yugi was not as completely oblivious about the puzzle as he had been acting. He did know what the item was capable of, what had happened to Minerva, and still he kept the item with him.

"I am only going to ask this once, Yugi, For this puzzle and by extension you have become a risk to those living inside this castle. No games, no acting as if you don't know, what has happened to my transfiguration Professor?"

There was an icy tone to Albus's voice, and it bit and Yugi's confidence and assurance. Albus didn't even blink as Yugi ducked his head into his chest, and wrung his finger's together, desperate to stop the shaking that was overwhelming him. "Yes, I do." Yugi said finally, his voice meek and quiet, but it was growing more dominate by the second. Picking his head of his chest, Yugi looked up, and looked Albus straight in the eye "and I know how to help your friend, if you will trust me."

Albus's eye brow rose, but didn't say anything and Yugi took that to his advantage. "The Millennium Puzzle is home to a spirit. Judging from what has happened to Minerva, you have already discovered that." Albus nodded his head once, and Poppy leaned forward, listening to every word.

"You mean that someone has sealed a ghost up inside that little object? I didn't think that was possible!" Poppy said, crossing her arms tight around herself as she stared at the Millennium puzzle with an appreciative light in her eye. "I mean the spiritual energy alone would rip apart any object! How is this one still together?"

"Because... Mou Hitori No Boku isn't a ghost, at least not in the means that you are thinking. I mean he's dead but..." Yugi took in a deep breath, searching his mind for the right words to english they had taught him in school was enough for him to hold a normal conversation, but it didn't help with more delicate subjects requiring a more eloquent syntax. Who was he kidding, Yugi doubted he could find a single word in Japanese to help him much either. he had never explained this to anyone before, not even his friends. So trying to explain everything to a complete stranger was not something Yugi was looking forward to. At this point however, Yugi was willing to do just about anything to know that he and the puzzle would remain safe. If an explanation was all it was going to take...

Casting his gaze up to the puzzle that still remained hanging in the air, out of Yugi's limited reach, he released the gathered air with a soft sigh and continued. "The process is a bit more complicated than that... how do I put this... the Puzzle is a container for not a whole soul, but half. The darker half of my soul to be exact."

"Expect Yugi, that the puzzle -judging from it's appearance and energy- has been at its job for thousands of years longer than you have been alive. I need honesty, Yugi."

Bitting his lip, Yugi fought to keep his gaze on Albus, never tearing his gaze away from Albus's intense stare. "I'm trying to be honest, but you have to understand that this next part is exceedingly complicated. I would understand if you don't believe me."

Poppy chuckled slightly, covering the noise with a slight cough as Yugi turned around to stare at her in confusion. "I don't think your going to have to worry about that my dear. You would be amazed at how many unbelievable things happen every day around here."

Yugi smiled, the carefree expression immediately lighting up his worn, bandaged features. Instantly Poppy was reminded of the teenager that Yugi's age sent him out to be. He was just a kid...

"Alright then," Yugi began again, his hands falling to rest in his lap. This would be the hard part, finding a way to describe what the Puzzle was, without revealing why Mou Hitori no Boku and himself lived as a split soul. These people could not know that information, Yami had specified on many occasions that the power of the pharaoh was to be kept a secret. Would Yugi's cover story be enough though... "My soul is one that is thousands of years old, from the times of ancient egypt. After an experiment gone wrong in the time of Pharaoh's however, half of the soul was trapped inside the puzzle, while the other half, my half was doomed to wander the earth. Or as the Egyptians believed be reincarnated until it was rejoined with the other half of its soul and could pass through to the after life to be judged."

"That was an interesting story, young man. Truly worthy of late nights and a good cup of tea." Albus said, pushing himself off the wall to stand right beside Yugi. Yugi watched as the elderly leaned down until his head was level with that of Yugi's. "But how do we know that you are telling the truth?"

Yugi shrugged, "You don't, but it's entirely up to you whether you believe me or not." That's when Yugi felt it, the push against his mind. Yugi gasped at the sensation, feeling acid pour over raw was causing it, Yugi didn't know, all he know was it hurt. His limbs, that had just been starting to relax, tightened up again, and he curled back up into his ball, focusing all of his energy back into keeping whatever this was _out_. He cried out as the presence pushed harder, and Yugi clenched at his head as he fought to keep it away from the hole in his defences. The one that Minister had made before.

It was gone after a few minutes, leaving Yugi with nothing more than a headache. When he opened his eyes for a second time, however Yugi saw Albus's face right close to his, and noted with a suppressed smug smile that there was the smallest signs of a confused frown on Albus' face. He hadn't gotten through, at least that meant something.

However, Albus had tried to break into his mind. Without a single warning he was willing to invade someone's mind and pry it apart. Just to find out if Yugi was telling the truth? What kind of people were these wizards? To rip through the most sacred of places, without a second thought. Maybe it was because he had spent so much time with Yami, but it wasn't something that Yugi could understand.

Yet both Poppy and Albus were staring at Yugi, with the oddest looks on their faces. As if they hadn't expected his extreme reaction to what ever it was Albus had tried to do to him. Maybe this was a common place thing, to look inside someone else mind. Just because it was beyond the realms of invasion of privacy does not mean they agreed.

"How long has it been since Minerva collapsed?" Yugi asked, changing the subject as he turned away from Albus to look at Poppy. The elderly man had moved out of Yugi's personal space, but still stared unblinkingly at him. It was very unnerving, it almost reminded of Yugi of staring at a math puzzle, hoping the numbers will provide all the answers.

A small frown line appeared between Minerva's eyes, "about 15 minutes" she said, looking over to Albus for confirmation. Sticking his hand into his pocket, Albus pulled out a pocket watch. With a resounding click the catch opened to the clock face beneath.

Craning his eyes, Yugi caught a quick glance at the surface. However all he could see was what looked like tiny planets moving in a circle. Not something that Yugi would use to tell time. It seemed to make sense to Albus however, "Yes, I would say so my dear."

Yugi's eyes closed, and the smallest twinges of a smile once again appeared on his face. It wasn't the same as the ear to ear grin Poppy had seen earlier however, this one was an odd cross between a sad smile, and that of one who had just figured out an extraordinarily difficult puzzle. "Okay, I don't think that Mou Hitori no Boku's dark game would have ended by now. We still have a chance to help her.

"Dark Game?" Albus inquired quizzically, Yugi could feel the curiosity barely contained within the words. Gods this man was more curious than any cat Yugi had ever met.

Yugi nodded absentmindedly as he sat up off the head board, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Yes, a dark game. Mou Hitori no Boku's favourite way of punishing those who he thinks has committed wrongs. You play a game, and the loser... well its best not to think about that sometimes. However, the games are usually rather involved, so they take a little while to finish. Unless of course Minerva cheats."

A light lit in Poppy's eyes, a hopeful gleam. "Don't worry, Minerva doesn't cheat. Sure she can be rather impatient at times, but she doesn't cheat."

"You had best hope so. Dark Games bring out the worst in even the best of people, I've seen it happen before. But if you have faith in her, then I'm sure she'll be fine." Yugi said. Poppy's content smile faded slightly as she watched Yugi slowly pull himself up and off the bed. For a second it looked as if he would be fine, before his knee's gave out and he was forced to lean against the bed to stand.

"Well, that was unexpected." Yugi said with a toothless grin, slowly straightening against the bed with one hand, another pressed flat against his forehead, as if trying to keep it steady. "I haven't felt his exhausted in years."

Poppy snorted as she moved to steady Yugi herself, wanting nothing more than to push him back onto the bed were he belonged. "Of course your exhausted, you've been unconscious for just under a week and haven't eaten a bite the entire time."

Yugi chuckled, move his hand up of the bed. His knees threatened violently to buckle underneath him as Yugi transitioned his grip from the bed to Poppy's forearm. "Yes, that does make sense. I feel like I could eat a horse... or maybe five. After I'm done here, food is most definitely on the agenda."

"What do you plan on doing?" Albus asked as Poppy lead Yugi over to where Minerva was moving.

Yugi groaned when he finally made it over to Minerva's bed side, and he collapsed bonelessly onto the mattress, barely able to find the energy to pick himself back up into a sitting position. "Mou Hitori no Boku and my magics are polar opposites. They tend to negate each other out when they come into contact with each other. It's the only way I can think of to finish a dark game that's in session."

Albus thought that over for a second, before his eyes drew to the slim piece of metal around Yugi's neck. "While i will admit I do not understand the full logistics of the item around your neck, but will this not impede you from whatever it is you plan on doing?"

"Probably..." Yugi replied simply, reaching a finger up to the collar, hissing as his probing finger tip came into contact with the damaged skin. "As far as I can tell this thing does impedes my magic, how I am not sure. However impedes is the key word, for despite some... discomfort it does not block everything, I should have enough to be able to do this."

"Or," Poppy jumped in, "we can wait. Serverus is currently making the strongest corrosive he can make. That should be enough to eat through the collar. It should be ready in an 1hour."

Yugi shook his head, "We don't have an hour I'm afraid. We're already wasted enough time as it is. If you want your friend to survive this with her mind intact, You'll have to let me do this; and to do that, I'll need the puzzle. I'm going to need the help to do this, and its the only thing I have to focus my magic with."

Albus hesitated, casting his gaze from Minerva, to the Puzzle, to Yugi. Could he really trust the young man with the item that had caused all of their problems in the first place? Yugi seemed sincere, yes, willing to help. However, Yami had no idea what was going on inside the boys head, he had been slammed out with barriers stronger than even Tom Riddle's had been. Could he in concision trust someone so shielded?

Did he really have a choice? Yugi appeared to be the only one who understood this magic, had the slightest idea how to get Minerva to wake up. The boy had shown nothing but good intent, he almost seemed to radiate the feeling.

With a flick of Albus's wand the puzzle fell from the sky, and straight into Yugi's awaiting arms. Yugi's eyes fluttered close as he pulled the puzzle close to his body. The soothing, pulsing heat of the puzzle felt so good through the bandages, and Yugi curled around it more as he felt his mind reconnect with the vessel of Yami's soul. With hands that shook with excitement as Yugi lifted the chain from the puzzle and let it fall over top of his head, coming to rest around his neck where it belonged.

The glow from the centre eye grew brighter as the puzzle settled back into it's normal spot on Yugi's chest. It's presence filled Yugi with soothing comfort, he felt at peace once more. Digging into the bond he shared with the item, Yugi almost moaned with pleasure as he felt his own magic merge and combine with that of the puzzle.

Yugi wasted no time as he cupped the puzzle in his palm, covering the eye with his thumb. Poppy and Albus watched in amazement as a soft white glow erupted over his hand. Yugi winced, crying out in pain as his free hand flew up to the collar, which had started to hum. The white glow flickered, fading into non existence before starting up once again. The colour started to drain from Yugi's face, and he started to shake from the pain. This time when the light of Yugi's hand disappeared, the returning flow was almost invisible.

"Yugi, stop!" Poppy yelled, "If this is going to hurt you this much, then stop. We'll figure out another way."

Yugi shook his head, "No..." he panted, squeezing his eyes tight, "This is the only way. My dark is the one who caused this, it's my responsibility to set things right."

The glow on Yugi's hand lit up once more, brighter than before. Yugi bit his lip as the Collar started to hum once more, but he stood his ground. The light did not flicker, instead it spread to his other hand, which Yugi gently placed over top of Minerva's closed eyelids. The light bathed Minerva's face, giving it an almost celestial glow. Yugi smiled, even through the searing pain spreading through his neck.

"_Ready or not, Mou Hitori no Boku, here I come."_


	10. Chapter 10

It is in my opinion that I have single handily risen the ibuprofen industry's profit margin. All because of this headache chapter. Which has been the hardest thing I have ever written in my life. And that includes the incredibly boring paper about the Monarchy's role in Canada that I had to write for my Politics class. And the sad part is that much unlike that Politics paper, I so desperately wanted to write this chapter.

Which is probably the only reason I sat through 5 pain staking rewrites. So sorry for the wait! In the end I finally decided on this little thing, which I am hoping make sense. Maybe it's because I refuse to do another rewrite, but I kind of like how it came out.

I still can't believe how much this story took off... all of a sudden it became so popular, almost overnight. I remember the days of being so impressed at landing 5 reviews a chapter. Now there's almost 10 times that amount... I love you so much, thanks for all your support:

t**.dragona**, Deeply creepy, **plummy-kins**, **foxdreamer**, Ethorin, **RoxasIsReal13**, Viskii, **Jewelle2**, yayubaru1, **Megan Russo**, Golden feathers Edward, **YankeeSamson**, Shado-Ookami, **LiableToSnap**, blucross, **Ryu012692**, No To Logins,** iHamster**, too-much-inspiration,** jeli26,** Athina Dark-Angel of Death, **justarandomNightWorldfan**, samasim, **anonymous,** Phobias Athena, **KingdomHeartsRox**, lacrima-tuja, **Kathrine,** yumeniai, **random idiot person**, Awesome socks, **Jisa**, Noitar Arat, **LightDarkandChoas**, Siffie the third, **BYoshi1993**, xDarklightx, **Kerowyn Van'Seph**, Lappalla,** Isis the Sphinx,** theNewDesire,** Dark Angel of Wind**, The elusive shadow, **goth-girl-pink**, Fufu-The-Ninja, **Smoochynose**, Chronos Mephistopheles, **I love cute things. **

/

Click,

Click,

Click.

Each move was systematic, the puzzle pieces danced underneath his finger tips as if they were there own thinking entity. Each one slipping into their new home with breathless efficiency. It had been so long sense Yami had played a proper dark game. So long sense he had been able to create one of his own. It was exhilarating to be back in control once more. Already Yami could feel the magic gathering beneath his finger tips, itching to summon the final act.

Penalty Game.

A wave of ecstasy rolled down Yami's spine, causing his entire body to shiver in taunt emotion. So long the magic of the item's had been pulsing inside of him, begging to be set free. Do to the task they had been so good at in the past. Yugi had made Yami promise to stop being both Judge and Jury. To stop punishing those as he would have as Pharaoh. To be a god among men, and exact divine judgement to those who dared touch and hurt that what was his.

For what better plead of guilt was there to hurt such a pure, forgiving soul? Not even a dark game could reveal more of a person then one who would dare to damage _his _light. It had been far too long since Yami had been able to play a proper game against his enemies.

And for the first time in years he felt alive. Every inch of his body thumbed with pent up excitement, of exhilaration that ran too deep to really place a proper name to.

Another piece slid into place, soon followed by two more. The tile puzzle the Items had created for Yami and the woman to play had been perfect in design. Too difficult to even consider doing without time to pause and think about every move, yet so straight forward it seemed painfully obvious.

Two more pieces slid into place, and Yami was graced with the briefest image of the end result. The sennen eye stared at Yami. Or at least what would soon become the sennen eye. For the lower quarter of the puzzle was still in pieces. And as Yami shifted the pieces around once again, the picture shuffled and disappeared. A well thought out dark game could have all the complexity as any game of Duel monsters. Such a simple concept, so much thought.

That's when the frustration set in.

Thinking carefully about his next move, and the three or four moves that the simple change would create, Yami slid the piece closest to him into the empty spot and slid the one to his left in its place. If his strategy was going to work there should only five more moves he would have to make to complete this puzzle.

If he could look past the giant mess it would make of his puzzle of course. That was the twist in this dark game. There was always a trick. While the game itself was fair, advantage given to neither players, the games were always designed to pick at the challenger's worst personality traits.

Impatience... not the most evil trait in the world, no where near the realms of the greed, envy and jealousy that had plagued Yami's previous victims. But it would be this woman's undoing.

Yami shifted, lifting himself up off his knees and up onto the back of his heels. He had to admit the woman was lasting far longer then he had thought she would. Most people would have cheated by now. Given up and taken the easy way out.

Reaching forward Yami pushed another piece into place, not really paying attention to what he was doing. He had an exact image of the pieces he wanted to move in his mind. So instead, Yami allowed his awareness to spread outward, and seep past the glass wall separating them to reach the woman's mind.

The frustration that was rolling from the mind crashed into Yami with the force of a solid brick wall. Yami felt the corner of his lips move up into a self satisfied smirk. The feelings were practically unbearable, even from the weak touch that Yami was feeling. It radiated of her very being...

Yami slid another piece of his puzzle into place, watching happily as it allowed the sennen eye in the centre to take form once more. 3 pieces left, and they were set up in the perfect sequence. It wouldn't take any effort to move them to where they belonged.

Yami reached forward to slip the pieces in, slid ding two of them down the clear path from the top of the puzzle to the bottom. When they finally made it to their final resting place the pieces would snap together with a third piece to form the swirled line that marked the bottom of the eye. Which would leave only one piece left to do, a simple process really. What could be difficult about moving a single piece to the left?

Those thoughts were shattered instantly, even before Yami had been able to slide those two pieces into place the rustle of heavy material caught Yami's attention. The sense of impatience and frustration that had been so overwhelming his competitor had reached it's bursting point. Out of the corner of his eye Yami watched as the witch stood up, and started to walk towards the door.

Apparently enough had been enough for his opponent. Even at the awkward angle Yami was facing he could see that Minerva's puzzle lay not even a quarter done. She had been struggling with it, for even the pieces that were matched were spread out in a hodgepodge of twos and threes. No rhyme or reason to any of the location, not even a drop of strategy. The puzzle had been too much for her to wrap her head around. How odd that a grown woman could not even grasp the concept of something originally developed for kids. Even though she didn't actually know what a tile puzzle was, it wasn't the most complex ideas in the world. Unless of course, one refused to allow their mind to grow. This place, these people seemed so isolated. Almost as if they refused to connect with the rest of the world on principle.

Interesting

The doors were, of course nothing more than decor. They added to the esthetic appeal of the steel rooms. Building towards the mood, the inexplicable feeling of being closed in, of being trapped with no where to go. The door offered a way out, one that was closed off.

It also provided the perfect opportunity to cheat, if they could figure out someway to get past steel bars. Even from this distance Yami could see the wand that was perched in Minerva's hand, pointing dangerously towards the doorway, a look of purposeful intent all over her thin face.

Leaning back on his heels, Yami turned back towards his puzzle. He know that at this point in the game it didn't matter whether or not he slid that final piece into place. The game would be over in a few minutes. What would be the fun in slipping out the game from under a woman who was about to hammer the last nail into her coffin?

No, Yami could wait a few seconds longer.

For the wielder of an item, ones sense self and their sense of the world around them was amplified during a dark game. Even if he closed his eyes Yami could know where Minerva was standing, sense the magic that she was allowing to flow through her wand. A weak flicker to be sure, but it was there all the same. But it felt... overshadowed in a way. Obscured by something else.

Something stronger. At least that part was obvious. Yami could feel the presence of something all but ripping through the woven strands of his game. It was if the entire game was being pulled apart, strand by strand before it was hastily put back together when whatever it was passed.

Who on earth could be having this much affect on the Dark Game? Scratch that, What on Earth had the ability to break into a Dark Game? It wasn't an easy task, they were designed to be impregnable. One would have to have an absolute knowledge of both the workings of the Millennium Puzzle and Yami's thought process. There was only one person that Yami could even consider being qualified for that kind of thing. But he wasn't here right now. It wasn't possible, not in the condition that Yami had found him in. It wasn't possible... it couldn't be.

The foreign presence in the game shifted once more, and Yami focused entirely on tracing it's path. Shutting his eyes, Yami allowed himself to be turned around until he was facing the windowed wall once more. When Yami opened his eyes he could literally see the ripples in his magic from the disruption. He could feel the places where the dark magic had shifted away from their original locations, gathering towards where the disruption was. Each strand thrumming with excitement and nervous energy.

As whatever this was materialized, the shadows began to slow down, slinking back to their designated places within the structure of the game. As they slipped back and cleared Yami's vision, he was able to watch with intense interest as a figure slowly steeped free from one of the walls of Minerva's box. With what appeared to be absolutely no effort, this person had effectively introduction himself into the dark game in a way that shouldn't be possible.

Scarlet eyes grew wide as Yami took in the shock of black hair, each point tipped with magenta and bangs dipped in liquid gold. The breath caught in his throat when the figure scanned the room, passing the wide window, pausing only to catch Yami's gaze for a single second. The Amethyst of the person's eyes glittered in the non-light of the dark game. The brilliant colour instantly froze every cell in Yami's body, locking it in place. Yami watched as the triumphant smile on the figure's face fell into a tense frown as they stared at each other. The skin between his eyebrow's tightened before he looked away looked away, turning to look at Yami's opponent.

It wasn't possible.

Yugi couldn't be here, he wouldn't have come here, he had absolutely no reason to be here. Before Yami had started the dark game, Yugi hadn't even been coherent. Yami had barely been able to sense his mind through the link of souls. Only just able to sense the weak fluctuation of Yugi's life, buried somewhere beneath some sort of filter. It hadn't felt like Yugi would be able to wake up for at least a few days, if he had been able to at all.

Yet... It looked like Yugi. Still topless, still wearing those dark wash jeans that Yami had so desperately tried to talk him out of wearing day Yugi had been taken. They had argued over the esthetic appeal of leather and of the comfort and simplicity of jeans. Yugi had won, and Yami remembered him being so proud of himself. For almost 10 minutes Yugi had strutted around the house in what he had declared the nice, breathable denim compared to miserable hot and sweaty leather.

Now the jeans were absolutely destroyed: ripped, torn and blood stained. Who ever this was, had captured his light's appearance perfectly. Every single bandage that had so effectively burned itself into into Yami's memory was still there, not a single one out of place. Right down to the occasional blood stain that blotted the white linen and the one's wound around Yugi's face, hiding Yugi's left eye from view.

It couldn't be Yugi. That wasn't possible. Even if Yugi had somehow managed to pull himself into the dark game, Yugi had to have known that he wouldn't survive in here. Not as weak as he was, physically and mentally drained. The dark game would eat him alive. Yami scowled as he noticed the slumped frame of his light's imposter, and the way the unhealthy thin figure shook. Exactly as Yugi had looked during his game against Pegasus, exactly as he would have looked if he was here...

But for what reason would Yugi have to join the game? Wouldn't he want those who had hurt him so badly to be punished? It was the logical response. For even his light would have to understand that by separating them, these people had given Yami the right to exact whatever punishment he wished? Yugi wouldn't try to stop the game, he understood that this was Yami's domain, Yami's right as Pharaoh... Yugi wouldn't interfere.

No, this person was most defiantly not Yugi. Every ounce of logic that Yami's mind was feeding him clearly stated that the foreign presence in his game wasn't his light. It must be Minerva. She was taking her own sweet time in unlocking that door and ending the dark game. Maybe that hadn't been her goal all along. Maybe she had been trying to trick Yami, using another spell to try and confuse him, distract him from his goal. Making the image of the only person she knew would stop him from being able to finish the puzzle.

Yami had to admit, that if this was Minerva's strategy, it was working. The puzzle at his feet had lain completely forgotten as he stared at this Yugi replica. All thoughts of finishing the game had completely disappeared as he tried to figure out whether or not this was actually his light. But Yami had not mentioned that player could distract another player when he had explained the rules.

So for all intensive purposes, if the Yugi impersonator was nothing more than a trick created by Minerva, the game should have come to an end. For wasn't attempting to distract a player without being told that you could, cheating?

Yet as the seconds slowly trickled by, the game didn't stop, didn't change. Minerva was still staring intently at the door, her wand twitching nervously in her fingers. The Yugi impersonator was still standing there, watching Minerva unblinkingly, but the witch never took notice.

Yami resisted the urge to bite his bottom lip in a decidedly nervous, child like action. If this fake Yugi wasn't a creation of Minerva's who or what was it? Or, was it possible that this person actually was...

What if it was Yugi? What if these wizards had forced him to joining the game in a desperate ploy to rescue their friend? Yami couldn't just leave Yugi alone in the dark game, especially not one of this own creation. Over the years, Yugi had improved greatly since Pegasus' game. Under normal circumstance Yugi would have been more than able to survive any dark game. But, whatever was suppressing Yugi's energy levels, could and easily would be the death of him. If Yugi couldn't support his light, then there would be nothing to protect him from being devoured by Yami's game.

"Damn it" Yami swore, narrowing his eyes at the small figure just on the other side of the glass. Could this be his light? There was really only one way to tell if this was truly Yugi or not. Closing his eyes, Yami drew in a deep, steadying breath. Erasing his mind of all outside thought, Yami slowly reached into his mind, searching for the silvery thread that linked his mind with Yugi's. Releasing his breath, Yami reached out to the thread, and let it envelope him completely.

The breath hitched in Yami's throat as the feeling of light so pure that it burned silver tricked down the link. The only thing in Yami's world that burnt so brightly was Yugi. Even with his eyes closed Yami could see the light that shone so brilliantly in the dark game. "oh gods..." Yami moaned, a chill running down his spine from the euphoria that only Yugi's light could bring. Rational thought all started to shut down as the reality of the situation set in. His light was just on the other side of the glass... Yugi was so close, so close that Yami could almost feel his light's presence wrap around his soul once more. So good...

But it didn't feel right... there wasn't enough to sooth the burning ache in Yami's soul. Yami paused, tyring to regain his thoughts as he searched through his memories. The edges, due to his most recent stint in the puzzle were broken and jagged. But no amount of time locked in the puzzle was enough to make Yami forget what Yugi's mind felt like, and this as good as it felt was no where close. Whatever light remained in Yugi's soul was fading rapidly. The light was too dim to burn away the parts of the dark game which wished to devour it.

A fist clenched its way around Yami's heart and his lips raised into a feral snarl. A part of Yami's mind lifted at the sight of his light up and standing. However that small portion was overpowered by a rush of anger and petrifying fear. Yugi's body was hunched forward as his small body tried desperately to curl into it's self in protection. Even so many feet away Yami could see the layer of sweat that lined Yugi's skin and the intemperate tremors that ransacked Yugi's body. Yugi wouldn't survive here much longer... was that why the these people had sent him here? As an ultimatum to Yami? Minerva's life in exchange for Aibou's? Crimson eyes narrowed as Yami's fist clenched so tightly that he could feel the delicate skin of his palm brake. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

How dare they try to use his own in such a fashion. They had probably dragged Yugi out of his bed the moment his eyes opened, forcing Yugi to explain what was happening. The feelings of anger completely washed over Yami's mind, swirling and building until even the most extreme of penalty games didn't feel like a good enough punishment. Yami just wanted to rip these people apart limb form limb until no part of their body was recognizable.

First however, Yami had to regain the diminutive amount of control these people had been able to wrest from him. Did they actually think that Yami would not be able to reconnect with his light and protect him? This was Yami's dark game, the possibilities were endless as long as Yami wished them to be. Reaching further into the link, Yami slid his mind open. He was so very careful to keep Yugi's mind separate from the portion of his own that was connected to the dark game. For the last thing Yugi needed right now as more exposer.

Within seconds of opening his side of the link however, Yugi's mind brushed up against Yami's so intimately that his knee's shook. Yugi turned his head, and his eyes grew wide in excitement, longing and shock. Yami took a deep, shuddering breath, all of a sudden holding back that one portion of his mind was become a near herculean task.

"_Mou Hitori no Boku?_"

The voice was just as perfect as Yami remembered, and he shivered at the sound that sounded as f it had been whispered in his ear. Too long Yami had been separated from his light... far too long for either of them. But Yami was going to end this here and now. Yami's cocky smirk once again spread out against his features as Yami wrapped his awareness around Yugi's soul... and pulled.

"_Aibou..."_

/

Yugi held back a moan as his legs started to shake and quake underneath his suddenly impossible weight. The breath caught in Yugi's throat as his head started to pound and his heart started to break its normal rhythm. Slowly beating faster and faster until Yugi could feel it smash against his ribs until it plunged down to a snails pace.

The lack of any semblance of a rhythm caused Yugi's chest to burn and he coughed violently as the cold started to close in around him. It felt like he was breathing in ice. It was only know that Yugi started to realize that major flaw in the amazing plan that Yugi had concocted in the hospital wing. He should have thought this through a little better.

For as he stood there, staring blankly at Minerva's back, Yugi realized that there was no way he was going to be able to just negate the dark game like he had hoped. The magic that Yami had summoned to control the game was draining every single drop of the magic Yugi had to offer, and the collar sapped away everything else.

Yugi's body spasmed and shook despite how hard he fought to remain still and in control. With fingers that trembled far more violently Yugi wanted to admit, he grazed the metal around his neck. Years ago, Yugi had burned the pads of his fingers off when he had tried to rebuild the Millennium Puzzle in a fire. The tips had long since been desensitized, there were times that Yugi could barely feel what was there. However, Yugi was forced to rip the scarred flesh away as the metal burned too hot to touch. Already the heat on his neck was becoming just as unbearable as the beating of his heart.

Definitely should have thought this through a little better.

Shutting his eyes, Yugi felt the small reserve of magic he had been gathering since Minster had put the collar on him. There wasn't a lot left. Barely enough for Yugi to be able to negate the dark game like had originally hoped. That was why the dark had been able to grab onto him like this. His and Yami's ability to coincide with one another was a balancing act. They couldn't have more of light and dark then the other... or the larger one would over power the other.

The dark would try to smother the light; as the light would try to scatter the dark.

It had been a nice plan, they always were in the beginning. But Yugi had been delusional if he actually thought it would work out. With the dark game sapping every ounce of energy he had, his original plan was shot. To add insult to injury, when Yugi had appeared within the game it was not with Yami as he had originally hoped, but Minerva. Minerva who could not even sense yugi's presence in the game. Yugi was nothing more than a spirit in here, not a part of the games programming. He was as good as invisible to anyone but his soul partner. Yugi realized that he only way he was gong to save this woman, would be if he could convince his dark to shut down the dark game himself.

Yugi knew that the creator of a dark game had the ability to do such a thing. Only, of course if they weren't losing. At which time the Dark game was liable to turn on them, screaming _cheat!_ However it was almost impossible to think Yami was losing. Not during a dark game of his own item's creation.

No the issue would be had to convince his Other half to do this. If Yami had called this fortified of a dark game, then Yami's sanity probably wasn't in the best condition. If Yami feel too deep into the call of his magic, then there was very little even Yugi could do to drag him out of it. Yugi knew that Yami wouldn't attack him... not matter how far Yami fell.

But what if he wouldn't listen?

Yugi was afraid to think of the consequences. He didn't want Minerva to die, didn't want anyone hurt on his behalf. The tremors were getting worse now, Yugi had long since given up on trying to control his shaking body. For it was no longer just the dark game that was causing them. Yugi was scared... he knew this woman, from the moment Yugi slipped into the room, Minerva's soul had instantly registered in Yugi's memory. The woman who had saved his life in the Ministry. Yet Yugi could do nothing to save her life in return, especially when the threat to her safety was entirely his fault.

She was going to lose, that much was obvious. The point of the dark game was to solve the puzzle that made up the floor. Or at least that was what Yugi had gathered. Instead of attempting to slove the puzzle however, Minerva was staring at the bolted door on the other side of the room, looking at ti as if it was her only salvation.

Minerva couldn't see Yugi, couldn't hear him, and knowing Yami's dark games, the poor woman probably hadn't even considered the consequences of her actions. Didn't understand that the only reason the door was there was to try and make her cheat? Or did she not even realize that opening the door would be cheating?

A lone tear snaked it's way down Yuugi's face, leaving a stinging trail as it trekked it's path. She was a good person, Yugi could feel the way her honour and loyalty wrapped around her like a glove. It was those qualities that had saved Yugi's life, those coupled with the same impatience that was to be her down fall here. Could Minerva not feel the sense of wrong that the door seemed to ooze? Even Yugi who had not heard the rules knew that the unsolved puzzle at Minerva's feet was the only exit.

Clenching his fists and trying so desperately to ignore the icy knife that was slowly being twisted in his chest, Yugi looked int he corner of his eyes at his Dark. Yami was standing stock still in front of the glass wall, staring intently where Yugi and Minerva were standing. However at the same time he seemed to be looking through both of them, not at them. Yami's arms where crossed so tightly across his chest, a pose that Yami only fell into if he was thinking about something... or waiting.

Yami must have known that Minerva was going to cheat. He was just going to sit there and wait until she finally caved, and lead her like a hapless lamb to a brutal death. Even as Yugi stared at his Dark's expression, he could feel his heart sink, further and further by the second. Yami should no outward sign of even recognizing Yugi's presence in the Game. Yugi knew Yami could see him, they had locked eyes when Yugi had first entered the game. Yet Yami had done absolutely nothing, not even twitch his finger sense Yugi had appeared.

Was Yami really that far into the game? To not even care that Yugi was here?

Despair welled up inside Yugi's chest, so powerful that it threatened to force Yugi down onto his knees. He chocked on the lump that had formed in his throat, as Yugi stared blankly at Minerva's wand hand. He could sense Yami's magic colliding with that of the wand's as Minerva started to think about her spell.

What could he do? Yugi had to do something. Minerva could not die such a pitiful death as cheating in a dark game. Not when it wasn't her fault... Not when she didn't know. There had to be something he could do... someway to stop this from happening. But how? Minerva didn't even know Yugi was there. He was doing no better at holding this woman back then the air in front of her face.

Unless...

Squeezing his eyes tight, Yugi tried to concentrate. Tried to ignore everything that was happening around him. The collar around his neck, burning with a pulsing heat, the ice like vice around his lungs, ignoring the very dark game itself. Instead, Yugi focused solely on what he was feeling, trying desperately to spread them outwards into the air around him.

Ryou had tried to show Yugi this trick for ages. To make those surrounding you to feel what you are. Ryou had used it once before this had all began to trick Jounouchi and Malik into crying during Anzu's chick flick. Sometime after they had teased Ryou for getting all watery eyed. Yugi had never really gotten the hang of it, at the time such a spell had seemed unimportant. Nothing more than a parlour trick. Not something Yugi was keen on using his magic for. Now Yugi was wishing he had spent more time on it.

The process of ending out all of Yugi's feelings of worry and despair shouldn't take too much energy. Ryou could do it without even blinking. Which was desperately important right now. Yugi gasped as the dark magic plunged into his chest once more, leaving no wound but only pain. But Yugi fought to push it from his mind, if he could just focus on sending his awareness out...

A frown flickered across Minerva's confident expression, so subtle that Yugi almost missed it. But he had seen it, Minerva could sense him! Yugi concentrated, pulling deeper. This would work! Biting his lip against the draining sensation of his magic, Yugi stared hopefully at Minerva's face. All the while trying to ignore the sudden elation that was bubbling in his chest for the first time in forever. While the sudden hope was an indescribably amazing change, it would interfere with what Yugi was trying to do. He had to convince Minerva that anything to do with that door was a bad idea.

A second later the frown on Minerva's face reappeared, flickering like an old lightbulb before it became a more permanent aspect of her features. The wand clenched tightly in Minerva's palm started to slip as the fingers that were keeping it there started to loosen. It would only be a moment more before she faltered. This last second was crucial.

Crucial enough that Murphy's law just had to put his two cents in.

Yugi couldn't help but jump at the cold presence that had pressed against his mind. It had happened so suddenly that all of Yugi's concentration skipped through his fingers like a fist full of sand. Yugi didn't even notice as Minerva regained her tight grip on the wand. He could feel something caressing his consciousness, coaxing it into openness.

At first Yugi thought it was the dark game. He could feel the tendrils seeping into his skin, picking at his soul like a slab of meat. But that wasn't right, whatever was pressing so insistently against his mind didn't have the same icy burn as the dark game. It was soothing, like floating in a pool of cool water on a hot summers day. It felt so good, so familiar.

A small gasp slipped unashamedly through Yugi's lips as for the first time in far longer than Yugi wanted to think about Yami's mind brushed against his own, and Yami's side of the mindlink slid open. Oh dear god... Yugi slid down onto his knees, and wrapped his arms around himself in a tight hug. Emotion after emotion filled Yugi's mind. Filling him with feelings that just couldn't be his, were never his but felt so right. Happiness, love, home, comfort, anger, insanity, rage and staisfaction.

Yugi's eyes grew huge as he tried to pulled his instantly scattered mind back into soem semblance of order. He had to stay in control, or what Yami was feeling would completely take over, and Yugi couldn't let that happen. He had to convince Yami to stop the game, not fall into the same thought process.

Yugi' moaned as the link slid open, so wide that their minds begain to wind around each other. To the point of almost becoming as they were during Duelist Kingdom, one mind, one person. Yugi's mouth fell open as gasping breaths slipped in an out of his lungs, barely doing their job. The world around Yugi started to go dark as he was completely enveloped by his dark's presence, and the glorious feelings it brought.

"_Mou Hitori no Boku_?" Yugi sent down the debilitatingly open link, it was the only thing he could manage at the moment. Everything was becoming blurred as his muscles started to lose any and all semblance of strength. To rapidly for his comfort Yugi was falling into a place of semi consciousness, nothing seemed important. How could anything be besides being near his dark. That was the only thing that mattered.

"_Aibou..."_

A smile spread across Yugi's face at the sound of his Dark's voice. He was safe, for the first time in so long, he was safe. The smile didn't disappear as Yugi tipped forward and the world became black. Yugi couldn't even draw enough thought to consider bracing from the impact against the hard marble floor.

It didn't matter however, because the impact never came.

/

As suddenly as it had come, the feelings of impending doom and dread had disappeared. Almost as if they had never existed in the first place, Minerva couldn't bring herself to believe that those feelings so intense that they had literally wrapped her stomach into knots, could disappear without a trace. The only sign that they had even existed in the first place was her memory.

Minerva frowned as she looked down at her fingers. The limbs were still shaking slightly, she could see her wand start to follow the tremors. Minerva squeezed her finger's tighter together in a better grip on her wand, tyring to force her fingers to become still once more.

What was going on? All of a sudden anything to do with the door, the glorious exit that stood so inviting before her had become so evil? It made no sense what so ever, her mind was saying that the door was her only way put of this forsaken place. The puzzle was most certainly _not _an option at this point. How could it be? That man, Yami... he was almost completely done his, and she had barely managed to match together four pieces.

But at the same time, Minerva's subconscious was screaming at her to turn around, to ignore the fact the door even existed. The little nagging voice in the back of her head was getting louder and louder with each passing second. Don't open the door, don't open the door, don't open the door.

Alohomora, it would be so easy. It was one of the simplest spells she knew. Chapter 7 of The Standard Books of Spells Grade One, if Minerva remembered correctly. There was no way that Yami could have magically locked the door to an extent Alohomora wouldn't work. All Minerva would have to do was flick her wrist and she could beat this man at his own twisted game.

Her wand hand never moved however, even as he mind ran through the steps once again, and again in a continuous loop. Minerva could not bring herself to even move a finger. As if she was staring at a boiling cauldron of water, tyring to convince herself to dump her hand in. It would be so easy to slip your hand into the scalding water, but there's always something holding you back from actually taking the leap and injuring yourself.

Even though the sudden flood of emotions had disappeared, Minerva could still feel the after effects pressing against her mind. The door, why was it there? It was far to easy to be an exit... what would be the point of being able to escape just like that. Too easy... unless it was only there to taunt her and Yami hadn't thought that Minerva would be able to break the lock... He did seem to be underestimating her abilities as a witch to the point of being condescending. More than that he seemed to think that witchcraft itself was nothing more than a set of parlour tricks.

There door was probably just there to annoy her, to taunt her and frustrate her while she worked on the impossible puzzle. Yami had made a mistake, he was over confident, and she would use it against him. With those thoughts in mind, Minerva once again raised her wand arm, and pointed her wand to the lock.

"Alo..."

Then again, Yami must have thought that she would go for the door. The spell hung on Minerva's lips as worry clouded her mind. Condescending and arrogant he may be, but Yami wasn't an idiot, it hadn't taken Minerva three seconds to realize that little fact. They say there is a fine line between genius and insanity, and while Yami had long since danced over that line, the strategic and tactical wisdom was still there. Yami had mentioned something about cheating earlier, about the penalties of such a thing. Minerva didn't even want to consider what this penalty game would entail. Would opening the door be considered cheating? Was Yami setting her up? Or was he not expecting Minerva to actually use the door?

"Oh Merlin..." Minerva swore under her breath, her fingers curling around the handle of her wand so tightly that she could feel the edges cutting into her skin. What to chose... If she opened the door, there was a chance that she would be cheating... and whatever twisted thing Yami planned on doing when she lost would become so much worse. At the same time... if she went back to the puzzle...there would be no way she could win. Yami was too close to being done for Minerva to even consider catching up.

How many times had she told her students not to take the easy route out? Transfiguration, Minerva had said almost every class since she had started teaching at Hogwarts, took time, and patience. But were values worth risking her life over?

Then again, the chances of her surviving what ever this was would probably be better if she played this game through to the end. Fairly, without cheating. But would this even be cheating? Yami hadn't even mentioned this silly little door during his instructions.

Can something truly be called cheating if it wasn't against the rules?

/

And yes it does end there, thank you very much. Because If I continued this chapter would be 20 pages long easily. This little section just keeps getting longer and longer

This seems to be a common tag for me: Remember killing the authoress, hating the authoress, forcing the authoress into hiding, or any other means of scaring, scarring, threatening or attacking the authoress mean no new chapters. XD

Gothabie.


	11. Chapter 11

Pages: 23

Words: 14 297

Finished: 0316am

Class starts: 0730am

Knowing that I finally stopped ignoring you: priceless

Besides, this is why caffeine was invented...

On a side note, is anyone up for beta-ing this story? Past and/or future chapters? I know my spelling and grammar sucks, mainly because I can't edit my own stuff to save my life (and not for lack of trying). This is only made worse by my extremely _irrational_ fear of the beta page. Just send me a message or a review if your interested, I know it's a big project, but if your into that kinda thing give me a shout. I would love you forever, as would many of R&G readers I can imagine.

* * *

Yami's grip was tight, rapidly approaching uncomfortably so. Yugi could fell every single point in Yami's bony arm digging into the sensitive skin of his waist. Feel Yami's shoulder pressing into the square of his back. With every second that past the hold became stricter, pressing deeper into the skin. Butt Yugi didn't move, he couldn't move, he wouldn't move. Even as his bones started to creak, Yugi could only stand there, mind still reeling from whatever Yami had done.

Yugi still wasn't sure what had just happened. 1 second he had been with Minerva, talking to Yami through the link. And the next… he was on Yami's side of the glass. Where he had all but been tackled the second his feet where steady. From there Yami had refused to let him go, even for a millisecond. In all honesty, Yugi didn't want him to.

At least not after seeing the way Yami had slammed his hand into fists, trying and contain their trembling. The thought of attempting to make Yami let go, of being angry for taking Yugi away from Minerva at the last second slipped away before they even had a chance to form. Yugi could feel the warmth of Yami's breath against his neck, each ragged panting breath.

"Aibou" Yam's voice was soft, barely audible even in the dead silence of his dark game. It caught hallway through the pet name, wavering in a way it never should. A worrying combination of disbelieving euphoria and disheartenment that maimed Yami's normal proud voice beyond recognition. Yugi's eyes started to burn as he tried to keep calm against everything that was happening. As everything started to seep away the only thing he could bring himself to do was weave his fingers through Yami's vice like grip. Yami's fist opened without a second of hesitation, clutching the offered fingers desperately.

This wasn't right… wasn't fair. Yugi understood that nothing about life was fair. but how could fate be such a fickle mistress as to reduce his dark to this? It wasn't right.

The world saw Yami as the perfect hero. The person who could look into the horrors of the world with out evening batten an eyelash. it was a role that Yami played far to well. But that was it, that noble hero was nothing more than a role… Yami was not nearly as stable as everyone wished him to be. 3000 years trapped in the Millennium Puzzle had done it's damage. The solidarity, the loss of control, only being able to sit and watch as his memories left until Yami became nothing more than a nameless spirit. It was always surprising how sane Yami could be at times. How much self control it took to hide that darkest part of their soul.

Yami fell to the ground, landing solidly onto his knees with a resounding crash. The resulting force took a rather boneless Yugi down with him as Yami let go of Yugi's hands to pull him closer. "Oh Gods Aibou…" Yami murmured, pressing his cheek into the groove between Yugi's neck and shoulder. Yugi's fingers wove into the soft strands of Yami's hair, slumping against his dark, his face buried in the dark tresses. Yugi chocked on a sob, feeling it take over his breathing as the burning in his eyes finally gave way. Yugi could felt he water washing down his cheeks, but made no move to wash them away.

"I… I thought… you were…" The words tumbled from Yugi's throat without a thought, but he could never actually form the sentence. Instead it hung there with the force of a lead weight pressing on his tough. Yugi' couldn't force them out, against and again he tried to whisper his greatest fears… that Yami had truly been gone forever, that they would be separated. But Yami just shook his head against Yugi's neck, refusing to break contact long enough to pass the message. Yugi picked it up just fine however, and his mouth slid shut.

It had been far too close for either of their comfort. Far too hopeless to maintain the dream that things would be alright. Even now, clinging to each other so desperately, the world seemed far to large, the control they had so carefully coveted so far away.

Slowly with hesitation that was so unfamiliar to his fingers, Yami's hand arched out and brushed against the white linen that hid his light's face covering the brilliant eye. Tanned fingers followed the clean lines the nurse had made, tracing over where Yugi's eyebrow should have been, down along Yugi's cheek bone. There was a soft whimper as Yugi nuzzled his cheek into the palm, desperate for the contact. The cut on his face still burned, icy bolts shooting from when Yami's accidentally touched something sensitive. Still Yugi couldn't bring himself to move Yami's hand aside. The icy burn of the dark game had dissipated in Yami's hold, the balance Yugi's other provided more than enough to stop the dark game from feeding.

Yugi's arms fell away from their gip on Yami's head, slipping down to grasp at the dark material of Yami's shirt. Yami's left arm reached up to drape across Yugi's shoulders, his free hand moving to fix the blond bang that had fallen across Yugi's brow, before coming to rest at the side of Yugi's head. A soft frown spread across Yami's face as he fiddled with the raw end of the bandages. The one eye that Yami could see was starting up at him questioningly, silently asking what he was doing. The question only grow as Yugi felt the slight pressure of lips on his forehead, light and chaste as Yami's fingers untucked the bandage.

Carefully Yami started to unravel the bandage from Yugi's head. Steadily, not giving himself time to pause Yami revealed layer after layer of the white membrane, each one tinted with a thin line of red. The bandages were wound diagonally across Yugi's face, holding -yami figured out- a long piece of gauze padding that stretched from Yugi's eyebrow down his cheek.

The pad slid way with little resistance as the last inch of bandage fell to the ground in a thoughtless heap. Yugi bit his lip, turning his face to the side in a desperate attempt to hide what had been revealed. Yugi knew that Yami would be angry when he saw the cut. The ugly gash that split open his eyebrow, cut across the eyelid and sliced through the corner of his eye. Why would he not be? The cutting spell hadn't damaged the actual eye, and for that Yugi was eternally grateful. However Yugi was far from optimistic about how well the cut would heal. The wound was deep and the face scarred so easily. The mark was more than likely going to be permanent.

Yugi tore away from Yami's prying gaze before the necessary conversation started, trying to shove his face into shadow, away from Yami's field of vision. It was a hopeless move, but the last thing Yugi needed right now was to make his other more angry. He still had to end the game.

A scar was a scar, Yugi had plenty of them. From accidents silly accidents he had as a kid to old altercations with bullies and the burns on his hands from handling the puzzle in a fire. Another scar wouldn't be the end of the world, just another count to the list. Jounouchi had always been impressed by the quantity. Yugi knew however, that not everyone in his life agreed with those sentiments.

The soft growl above his ear was more than enough evidence of that. The hand that rested lightly on Yugi's shoulder tightened uncomfortably, Yami's fingers digging into the bone without a thought. Yugi tried to keep in the wince of pain, focused solely on sending soothing thoughts to try and neutralize the anger filtering down the link.

The hand pressed down deeper on Yugi's shoulder and Yami reached up to cup at Yugi's chin, forcing him to look forward. Yugi tried to resist the motion but Yami pressed harder, not giving him the chance to object.

Cold, unfeeling rubies met Yugi's gaze and he found himself starting to shiver. Yugi let his dark do whatever he wanted however, forcing himself to trust Yami's decisions. No matter how angry Yami got… he wouldn't hurt Yugi. It was an unspoken rule of Yami's, a line that would never be crossed. Yami would never hurt him, even if he was sometimes unnecessarily rough.

Yami's finger traced the outer edge of the cut, his mouth tightening as his hand drew back into a fist, his knuckles resting just beside the cut, careful not to touch it. "damn it!" he growled as the flesh beneath his knuckles became white. Another person had dared to touch his light, had succeeded in not only that but in actually staining Yugi's skin. He had failed, with the one task which held any importance. Left with nothing more than a permanent fixture of this disaster.

While there was no way to make this... thing go away, it wouldn't make a difference however, because a mark was only as important as the person who left it. And how important could a person be if they where trapped in their own permanent nightmare?

Yugi frowned as the tension slipped away from Yami's bones, and his fist slipped free from Yugi's face. Instead it draped limply over Yugi's back, falling back into the needy position they had been in when Yugi had been brought to this side of the game. But Yugi was sharply aware of the change.

He could feel Yami's face pressed against his neck, could feel the ghost of a chuckle against the sensitive skin, and the corner's of Yami's mouth rising up into a grin more wicked than the cheshire cat could ever hope for. The blood froze in Yugi's veins, and the reality of what was happening came crashing down around him. This wasn't a reunion cut out of some novel. This was for the lack of a better word an intervention. he had to stop Yami from continuing with this game. Somewhere in the process of rekindling their minds, Yugi's purpose here had been washed away.

"Mou Hitori no Boku" Yugi spoke softly as he ran his finger's through Yami's hair. The strands where soft under his fingers, mixing pure gold into black and red, blood like in it's vibrance. Yugi frowned as the gold disappeared into the overwhelming colours. Carefully he tried to brush the blonde back into neat, straight lines, but it was far too tangled.

The confidence that had filed Yugi from the moment he had started to win over Minerva was gone, brining a dull aching hole in it's absence. His throat grew dry, his tongue started to feel as if it was ticking to the roof of his mouth, but Yugi fought to be heard. "Mou Hitori no Boku, what have you done?"

The question hung there for a second as Yami became still and rigid. Yugi could hear the wheels starting to move in his other's mind as he through through Yugi's words. They seemed to have an effect however, snapping Yami out of the stunned state that Yugi's presence had created. No longer seeking comfort from Yugi's hold, Yami changed their positions. Before Yugi knew what was happening he had been pulled down, his head tucking neatly underneath Yami's chin.

Yugi blushed, trying to register what had happened. Whatever he had said had obviously changed a lot more than he had originally intended. It had done far more than just grab his other's attention. It was more than Yugi was willing to deal with at this moment, there wasn't time.

His thoughts must have been reflected in his body as Yami ran his hand down his shoulders to try and work out the tension under the skin. "Don't worry Aibou" Yami said softly, his voice soothing as a parent warding off a nightmare. "I've solved the problem. Just a little while longer and I promise, nothing like this ever happens to you again.

That wasn't the answer Yugi was looking for.

Straining his neck, Yugi titled his head up to meet Yami's gaze. Yami's eyes were alight with something Yugi didn't like: Glee, pride, disturbing satisfaction. Yami wasn't even looking at Yugi, but clean across the room. Yugi tried to follow the stare, seeing Minerva on the other side of the glass.

Yami had long since given up his signature smirk. The one that was far more exasperating than it was attractive to anyone who actually knew the man. But at this point Yugi would do just about anything to see that cocky expression return. Because the soothing smile that was plastered on Yam's features sent another message entirely, one of a child seeking approval for a job well done. It wasn't Yami.

A feeling of fear started to build inside of Yugi and he started to squirm, trying to push away from Yami's hold. Before Yami had the chance to react Yugi had pushed his hands up to Yami's chest, using the firm skin to propel himself away. Yugi scrambled to his feet, struggling to find friction on the smooth marble.

The smile on Yami's face flickered and died a Yugi backed away. Yami straightened as well, watching as Yugi pressed himself fully against the well, breathing heavily as he watched his other wearily

"Aibou?" Yami breathed and Yugi winced at the hurt in his voice, feeling the guilt start to build. But, no, this wasn't Yami! This wasn't his other, and Yugi shouldn't be hesitant to do what had to be done. It was what Yami would do under the same circumstances. Steeling himself, Yugi turned to meet his other's eyes. His shoulder's straightened, and Yugi clenched his fists as he let his control of the situation build his confidence. For the first time in a very long time, Yugi was a place of dominance, he couldn't let it go now.

"Mou Hitori no Boku, you have to stop the game." it wasn't a question, it wasn't even a statement, Yami stopped as the command washed over him. An eyebrow rose in silent question and hidden mirth. Yugi wasn't one to take control like this.

"What are you talking about?" Yami asked, his face screwing up slightly in confusion. "Why would you have me stop when we are so close to ending everything? I have them in my grasp, it would be so easy to crush them all."

Stomping his feet and and screaming seemed like a good answer right about now. Yugi bit the inside of his cheek in hopes of quelling the childish action. "That's my point Yami!" Yugi said instead, spreading his arms wide, his frustration causing his voice to raise a few octaves. "You have the wrong people! The wizards here have done nothing wrong. Let them go"

There was a snort of disbelief as Yami closed the gap between them. He leaned over Yugi, staring his light down for what felt like the longest moment of Yugi's life. Nonetheless Yugi met his other's gaze, amethyst burning with a determined fire. Rolling his eyes, Yami broke contact, leaning down to rest his forehead and palms against the wall Yugi was leaning against. Yami's body completely enveloped Yugi's, both in protection and restraint, hiding him from the world. "What an interesting thing to say." Yami said, his voice barely above a hissing whisper. "Why Aibou, would you sympathize with those who would do you wrong?"

Shaking his head, Yugi rested a hand against Yami's chest, just above his heart. Yami's eyes flicked down at the gentle gesture, frowning. "Mou Hitori no Boku, you don't understand." Yugi said, fighting to keep his voice gentle and unwavering. "These people didn't hurt me. They're just trying to help, and your going to kill her without any evidence of wrong doing. Please Mou Hitori no Boku, stop the game before someone innocent gets hurt!"

"They are not innocent!" Yami snarled, and Yugi flinched as his other's voice rose. Yami took a mere step back, but his hands never left their cage. The slight movement only granted Yugi a glimpse of Minerva facing the door, wand in hand. "Look at her Aibou!" One hand was removed from the wall to wave in Minerva's direction, but Yami never broke eye contact. "So confident in her actions. Would an innocent woman cheat? Yet that is what she is about to do, like all those before her." Yami's voice had changed once more, carefully masking his anger to play the calm diplomat once more. But Yugi could feel the anger building, he knew he was running out of time before this blew up in all their faces. "Why do you trust her?"

"I..."

Yugi hesitated as he closed his eyes, faltering on his answer. Why did he trust Minerva? Yugi in all honesty had no idea. Yet the words came out so easily "She won't cheat Mou Hitori no Boku" Yugi's voice was confident, revealing the hope he had placed in Minerva. "Please just give her a chance. She won't cheat. I know it!"

Yami's hand clenched into a fist, Yugi could hear his nails grind against the walls. "What would you have me do Aibou? Just cancel everything on the fatuous hope she won't cheat? It's a deadly mistake, and no matter what Bakura might say, I know you are not that naive."

Yugi shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "No, I'm not asking you do that Mou Hitori no Boku. If she cheats, you may do what you wish, and I will do nothing to stop you. But please, show misery if she doesn't. Just consider cancelling game if she tries to solve the puzzle once more. That's all I ask."

/

Minerva held her breath, standing as still as possible in a subconscious urge to not make any sudden movements. She was careful, oh so very careful to remain facing the rough metal door in front of her. But even though her body faced forward, her eyes and attention where strained to the left, unable to look away from the spectacle in front of her.

From the first moment Minerva had lain eyes on Yami, she had sense that there was something mentally wrong with the teen, ghost, spirit -whatever he was-. It was visible in his eyes, his every movement. Rash and violent to the point of psychotic. Paranoia that seemed to put even Alastor Moody to shame. Something wasn't right with this kid. But there was a difference between narcotic and insane. Intent to kill, to maim, to hurt -while far from healthy- was different than talking to open air, and different again from trying to embrace nothing.

Yet that was what Yam seemed to be doing. Balanced on his knees on the cold, hard marble floor, he had his arms tightly clutched around open air. Occasionally his lips would move into words that Minerva couldn't hear, and his head would tilt as if he was listening to a veiled body.

Minerva shivered at the implications of what she was watching. Just how rational was this man? Whatever sanity he had, or at least had managed to show a few minutes previous was disappearing. The threat of violences still hung in the air though, as thick as a hangman's noose. Despite how ridiculous Yami looked on his knees talking to himself, Minerva was still painfully aware of his intent.

Yami wanted her dead for what he believed was her part in hurting Yugi. Minerva didn't understand the kind of relationship these two must share that could evoke this kind of reaction. All she knew was that if she lost this game, there was a very good chance that Yami would continue his vendetta onto the rest of the school. Minerva doubted from Yami's actions that he would care that Hogwarts housed children. He would just push through them, seeing only those who had hurt Yugi. Despite the true malefactor being miles away in london.

The thought sent a devastating wave of nausea through Minerva's body. There wasn't a hope of beating Yami at the puzzle... Tearing her eyes away from the collapse of Yami's sanity, she turned to look at her opponents puzzle.

One piece, one horribly terrifying piece was all that was left. A simple nudge to the right and the puzzle was complete and everything Yami promised would come to pass. Minerva didn't have a chance of finishing the puzzle, her own was a far cry from Yami's. Inside it was just a mass of black and gold spread out in no discernible pattern. All Minerva could say for certain about her puzzle was that it had aged her at least 10 years.

But Minerva wasn't sure if she trusted the door, that stood a gleaming glimmer of hope in this forsaken room. If the puzzle had aged her 10 years, the the door had taken 20. The best way to invoke insanity was to try and figure out the logic of the insane.

The door that framed the far wall of Minerva's box had been placed there intentionally. Why create it if there wasn't a reason for it. In situations like this a pipe was never just a pipe.

The puzzle wasn't the answer. Not a chance, she would rather face a first year transfiguration class the day after Halloween then go back to that wretched thing. The goal of this game was to escape from the room right? Not sit here and get angry at an inanimate object.

The door was the most obvious and easily the most simple way out. Minerva was more than willing to take that chance if it meant being able to leave the merlin forsaken place behind. But then again, the easiest way wasn't the always the right way.

How many times was she going to go over her options before the answer became obvious?

The door or finish the puzzle? There was only 2 answers, and one was far more obvious than the other. The puzzle wasn't going to get her anywhere, at least with the door she had a chance of coming out of this on top, or she would crash and burn. But at least with the door there was a chance...

Gods, what would her co workers say if they saw Minerva like this. She could already feel Severus' condescending sneer, it sent a shiver down her spine to even think about. He would probably make some snide comment about letting some silly value get in the way of a decision that would effect the safety of the entire school, not to mention her own life.

Then again, that didn't sound quite right. Severus would more than likely started laughing ages ago. Probably about when Minerva first started to struggle with a Muggle child's game. Minerva could already hear the man's voice as if he was looming over her shoulder with that patronizing expression on his face.

He would probably make some nasty comment... Minerva paused as her thoughts jumped towards a conversation they had a few weeks previous about guard detail for the Philosophers Stone. The stone that was currently buried underneath the school, with the up most secrecy.

Those involved in the creation of the guard: herself, Pomona, Quirinus, Filius, Severus and Hagrid where not supposed to tell each other about the specifics of their plans. For obvious reasons, it was not safe to reveal that information to even those Albus trusted the most. But specifics where not the same as details, and on more than one occasion they had gathered to discuss ideas.

Most of the conversations had been lost into the realm of inconsequential fluff. A hint here, a tidbit there that would later build upon the finished product of each other stages. However there was little of importance as everyone danced around the more dangerous topics. Instead the conversation had centred around the ways the average wizard thought, what would stump them the most. However one thing had stood out, something that Serverus had said was coming back to haunt her now.

"Most Wizards couldn't logic their selves out of a box"

Sure, this steel prison was far more intimidating than the simple box Serverus had imagined, but the principle was still there. It was funny how something that seemed so silly at the time gained so much more meaning when put into context.

He had said it out of the blue. Completely and utterly out of context to the conversation, and veering away from any possible route any of the statements made before could have possibly gone to. Minerva remembered the confusion Filius' face, the way Hagrid's beard shuddered as he shook his head in confusion. The way Pomona's eyebrows had risen so far into her hair that they had disappeared completely. Even Quirinus, who seemed to be lost in his own little world these days, had stopped fiddling with that ridiculous purple turban to pay attention.

"Wizards these days are idiots" Severus had continued in regards to the silent prompt from his audience. "Witches too, this entire generation is shot in my option. Everyone relying on their _wands_ to get out of any problem. Put them in a situation where magic won't work and they'll start whining like a house elf who was given a jumper for christmas. Merlin forbid there actually be thinking past that point."

There had been a stunned silence after that. No one had dared to speak a word in support or argument. The only movement had been Hagrid, who had shift his gargantuan girth to wrap a hand around the handle of his garishly pink umbrella.

As Minerva remembered it had been Filius who turned the conversation back to less insulting grounds. Something to do with the curriculum changes for this terms batch of first years? It didn't matter really, as the rest of the day was spent in near silence. Serverus had left a few minus later, but Minerva couldn't get what he had said that day out of her head. She had severally underestimated what he had meant by those words, and their implication.

The door was a trap. There was no doubt now. Yami must have known that the moment Minerva's wand wasn't an option, she would look for another way out. Somehow he had managed to pick that up from one meeting... No not one meeting, he had painted all Witches and Wizards with the same, less than pleasant brush and came out with the right answer..

There was no spell that would solve that puzzle. Not if Minerva didn't understand how it worked. If she had never seen this kind of puzzle before, then there wasn't a chance hat she would know a spell that would solve it. It would be far too dangerous to just whip out her wand and scream "Solve" like some overzealous first year. That was a good way to get your hand blown off. This was one of the first lessons that she taught in her class, it was so obvious that Minerva hadn't even considered pulling out her wand earlier.

Of course without Magic, minerva had barely lasted five minutes before she had sworn never to touch the puzzle again. A feeling that she still had.

Taking a deep breath, Minerva tried to calm down. She closed her eyes, feeling the air settle in her body, feel it flow through every inch of her. The Puzzle was the only option left to her. Whatever that underlying feeling from before was, it was telling her just how much of a bad idea the door was. Yami was too smart to be taken lightly, and even the darkest of cynics had their day.

She would have to solve the puzzle.

Opening her eyes, Minerva risked one more glance over her shoulder, and what she saw made her confidence grow. Yami still hadn't moved. If he hadn't throughout the entire space of her conflict, epiphany and resolution, then what was to say that his sanity hadn't packed up and left for good. What if he was content to be wrapped up in his own delusions for the rest of this life.

It didn't take much to realize the advantage that was being presented. And it was one that Minerva was going to take. He couldn't' do much more damage if he remained like this. If she could just avoid grabbing his attention then this entire crisis could be adverted before it got any worse.

Kneeling down once again, Minerva winced as the harsh marble came into contact with her knees. She was getting far too old for this kind of thing. But that wasn't going to slow her down now that Minerva was moving once again. Yami's puzzle was almost complete, which meant that she could use that as a guide for what her own puzzle would look like.

The first piece slid into place with a soft clink. The nightmare was almost over.

/

All movement had stilled on the other side of the room. The silence was deafening as both Yami and Yugi stared at, and through the thin plane of glass that separated the two rooms. Like the overly dramatic climax of a thriller, neither man was able to move their eyes away as Minerva started to shift.

Yugi knew that something was going to happen, that if something was going to happen it would happen in the next few moments. Yet no matter his confidence from before, Yugi didn't know how this would play out. Despite how loudly he could argue that Minerva wouldn't cheat, the truth was that with each passing moment a nagging doubt that was beginning to build. Yugi as afraid, so afraid that Minerva would cheat.

To a certain point Yami was right, as much as Yugi didn't want to admit it, he was right. They knew nothing about these people, these wizards. If it boiled right down to the point, Yugi was just as wrong to assume them innately good as Yami was to assume their faults. Yugi couldn't hold back that feeling of unease that blinding trusting Minerva's morals would bring about a desirable result

Above him Yami shifted, no longer hovering on top Yugi like an overzealous warden, instead he rolled to Yugi's left, resting his weight on the elbow that now rested above Yugi's head. Yugi could feel the smooth leather of Yami's shirt brushing against his arm, causing the skin to tingle. Yugi held in a exasperated sigh as Yami curled around him, never willing to break the tense contact. The trust that had once stood so strongly between them was starting to shake. Yugi could feel the vibrations shaking his core. Neither trusted the other to do the right thing, both weary about what would happen next.

They weren't thinking as one, as they had so often done in past games, and Yugi had an aching feeling that it had nothing to do with the block Yami had set up to separate his mind from Yugi's. Somewhere along the line, their definitions of right and wrong had diverged, so much so that Yugi wasn't sure he knew up from down at the moment.

Yami stared at the window as if he was trying to burn a hole through it Yugi noticed dimly as his attention shifted away from Minerva. His other was tense, Yugi could feel the muscle's tightening beneath his skin, preparing to spring into action at a moments notice. Yugi knew that Yami was waiting for the moment in which Minerva would give up. He could feel the gleefully sadistic anticipation that swirled around the block. Yami wanted to end the game, just like Yugi did, but he wanted it to go out with a bang that would take them all down.

Yugi's throat grew dry, and he swallowed nervously, his throat working against nothing as he ripped his gaze away from Yami. He couldn't let Yami's way of thinking influence his own right now. They had no influence here, either Minerva would make the right decision here or she wouldn't. It was that simple.

Slowly Minerva began to move, her wand slipping back into her pocket as she turned around. Barely, just barely Yugi restrained a childish whoop of excitement, elation spree ding through him like liquid fire as Minerva crouched down to the puzzle once more and began to shift the pieces. She didn't cheat!

A grin flashed across Yugi's face as he whirled around, searching out Yami's gaze. Yami's eyebrow twitched as he stared at Minerva. The slight movement his only reaction, but nothing else happened Yugi realized in dismay. Even as Minerva moved piece after piece of the puzzle into the empty slot, shuffling the picture around Yami remained starring. As if he expected her to get up and move to the door at ay given moment, Yami gazed blankly through the glass making no effort to move.

Yugi bit his lip as the silence dragged on for another painstaking minute. He had hoped that Minerva going back to the puzzle would have some firework worthy revelation. That from one action the entire world would jump up and down an realize the error of there ways. It was the only thing that Yugi had time to think through, he was working on the fly here. However instead of his fireworks, Yugi had been greeted with an anticlimactic fizzle.

"Mou Hitori no Boku" Yugi said hesitantly, his voice soft was he lay a hand onto Yami's forearm. Yami jumped faintly at the motion, the skin shifting underneath Yugi's fingers as his head whipped around to meet Yugi's gaze. Yami's face was expressionless as usual, but Yugi hoped he was thinking about this dilemma "I told you that she wouldn't cheat."

Yami gave a noncommittal grunt, frowning softly. "So you did" He said, voice low and sounding slightly miffed. But as soon as the words left Yami's mouth he clammed up once more, turning away from Yugi to face the window once more, looking almost bored.

This wasn't the amazing epiphany that Yugi was hoping for, this general dismissal of Minerva's actions. It was beginning to drive Yugi insane that his Other just didn't seem to care anymore, this should have shown the less then malicious intent of Minerva better then anything else Yugi could say. "She didn't cheat, Mou Hitori no Boku, please end the game."

"No"

Yugi blinked taken aback by the abruptness of Yami's statement. "No?" Yugi repeated, the word pressing down like a lead weight against his tongue. "What do you mean no? Mou Hitori no Boku you promised that if Minerva didn't cheat you would end the game."

Once more Yami turned around, a patronizing smile on his thin features. One that made Yugi realize that he had just been played. "No Aibou." Yami said as his fingers brushed against the smooth line of Yugi's cheekbone. "I didn't. You asked me to make a decision to show mercy or not, and I have made my decision."

Yugi's eyes narrowed as he took a step back away from Yami, moving out of arms reach. "What?" he asked in disbelief as Yami continued to stare down at him like a naive child. "I thought you were going to stop! You lied?"

Yami frowned, his hand falling to his side as his cheeks started to flash a dark red."Do not accuse me of lying Aibou!" Yami snapped, slicing his hand through the air in front of him. "I have never, and will never lie to you, and you know that!". Finally he was beginning to shift out of his condescending attitude to crash back down to earth. "I'm doing what's best for us! Why don't you see that! If Minerva loses the game than she is not worthy to remain living. That is the way this works!"

"But she didn't cheat!" Yugi bellowed back, stress and his emotions finally taking over as tears streamed down his face in a watery mess. But Yugi blinked past them as his eyes screwed shut. "The point has been made, so stop this stupid game! Stop it before she dies Mou Hitori no Boku!"

Yami's fists clenched as his face continued to grow red, his face tightening in a way Yugi had never seen directed towards him before. His other was angry, angry at Yugi. but Yugi was too far gone in his own frustration to care. Yugi knew that the way their minds processed a threat was different, but this was ridiculous. Yugi hadn't been this mad at his other in years. Frustrated maybe, but not angry. Yugi hadn't felt like this since the stone circle in the states, and in all honesty he had no idea how to direct his anger. He could only seethe, panting slightly from the force his bellowing exerted on his exhausted body.

"You don't think..." Yami growled, his tone low and dangerous as he struggled to regain control of his emotions, but it seemed to be a failing attempt. "You don't honestly think that dark games are about cheating do you?" Yami gave a short bark of laughter, his lips curling back into a sneer. "This is trial by combat Aibou. A fight between 2 people given the same chances to win. it's up to the gods and the items to decide that women's fate. When she loses it will be because the gods have forsaken her, like the criminal she is. All cheating does in a dark game is make the gods decision easier."

"And this game is so fair" Yugi spat out, sarcasm dripping from each syllable as he waved a hand to the puzzle that surrounded them. "What chance does a witch, with no knowledge of our world have against the Yu-gi-oh, the 3000 year old all mighty king of games? There's no divine influence here Pharaoh, and I will not have you ruin the only chance for peace we have!"

It was Yami's turn to reel, his come back lost on the tip of his tongue as he tired to follow what had just happened. "What did you just call me?" Yami whispered, his eyes narrowing into slits as he stared at his light in disbelief.

"Pharaoh! I called you Pharaoh!" Yugi cried, clutching at his hair as he ducted his head to his chest, trying not to scream to the heaven's as the desperation started to burn at his insides. " Mou Hitori no Boku would never do this! Not to me, not again!"

"Pharaoh?" Yami seemed stuck, oblivious to anything Yugi said. Even Yugi's own rant came to a stand still as Yami mouthed the name, his arms falling dead to his side, the tension flowing free like water. "Of course..."

"Of course what?" Yugi said as Yami's eyes snapped to his, not looking at him but almost as if he was trying to look through him. Yugi yelped as Yami grabbed onto his forearm, none to gently pulling Yugi to his chest. Yugi tried to squirm free, the last thing he wanted to do was touch Yami right now, but the Pharaoh held firm, one arm trapping Yugi to his chest as the other reached up to Yugi's forehead and tilted his head back, forcing Yugi to stare straight up at him.

The strained angle this position forced his neck into a painful angle as Yami pulled Yugi's head even farther back searching his features for something. "The old man, the one from outside, Albus. He touched your mind didn't he? After I started the game?"

Yugi froze, falling still in Yami's hold as he felt Yami's mind brush at the block, giving Yami all the information he needed. There was no point in denying the claim, Dumbledore had searched his mind, Yugi could remember the prying feeling, but he hadn't gotten through. Yugi failed to see the importance of this. Not right now. "Enough of this!" Yugi shouted, pushing against Yami's chest in an attempt to break free "Just end the game Pharaoh, do it now!"

"I understand what's going on now Oldman." Yami continued, yet he was no longer speaking to Yugi. Instead he tilted his head to the side, as if speaking to an invisible presence, completely ignoring what Yugi had said. Yami's eyes grow alight with the light of a man who thought he had answered the worlds greatest questions. "Such a cheap trick, and an even sillier mistake. I'm disappointed, Aibou never calls me pharaoh." Yami tisked, a smirk on his face as he looked down at his light with a predatory grin. "You screwed up Old man. I don't know how you managed to control Aibou's mind like this, but your little hoax is over."

Yugi didn't have a clue what Yami was talking about, but he was beginning to understand and as the edges of the puzzle came together Yugi's blood ran cold. Yami's hand gently slid down from his forehead, falling down to rest overtop of Yugi's eyes, blanketing him into darkness. Yugi shivered as the world disappeared, unable to move a finger as fear washed over him. Yugi winced as the tips of Yami's bangs tickled his shoulder and his warm breath washed over his ear. Yugi could feel Yami's lips move against his ear as whispered words filled his hearing.

"I'm so sorry Aibou" he breathed, and Yugi felt warmth start to spread underneath Yami's palm. "I was so stupid not to realize Dumbledore would try a trick like this. I'll make it better, I promise." Yugi tried to focus on the words, but it was growing more and more difficult as the warmth started to spread, reaching past Yami's palm to spread down through the rest of his body. Everywhere the warmth went, Yugi felt himself lose feeling with his body. He began to panic as the overwhelming feeling of dissociation washed over him, but Yugi was helpless to prevent it.

"_It'll be okay_," Yami whispered into Yugi's mind as his body started to slacken within Yami's hold "_Just trust me Aibou and let your body relax._"

It wasn't as if Yugi had a choice at this point, he could already feel his knees start to buckle underneath him as his arms turned into noodles. Yugi tried to fight it off, but Yami was determined to shut his mind off. It was obvious now that Yami's mind was too far gone into the dark game for any rational thought to break through. He was paranoid, paranoid to the point of insanity, believing every illusion his mind and the dark game supplied.

The last thing Yugi felt before control was stripped away was of Yami moving his weight from his right leg to his left. Of a disorientating shift as the surface shifted out from underneath them both. Yugi could only watch as the millennium puzzle started to glow a light shade of gold as the last two pieces of marble slammed together, signalling the end of the dark game.

/

Yami smiled as the walls of the dark game began to separate, the walls dissolving into the emptiness from which they came. The puzzle at his feet began to glow a lush gold that seeped through the seams of each piece, the light filling the room.

The dark game had accepted his win. Yami watched as mInerva jumped back away from her puzzle like she had been burnt. Maybe she had, as the marble at her feet instantly melted. As if on a slope the liquid stone ran to the very centre of the room, forming a puddle. Minerva's face flickered in confusion as the remains of her puzzle disappeared without a trace, not even a drop remaining. The colour left her already pale complexion as eyes grown huge in panic turned in Yami's direction

Her fear washed through Yami like the most delicious of wines. It only grew as the glass wall between them cracked like a gunshot before shattering into thousands of knife like shards. Glass splinters sailed around them both, nicking mercilessly at Minerva's skin.S he yelped as red rivers began to run down her skin. In a moment of panic, Minerva stretched her arms up to cover her head in a futile attempt to protect her face from the flying daggers.

There was no point now, Yami mused, now that the game was over. But the notion was an amusing one as his attention turned away from Minerva. No glass would touch him now, it one colliding into a invisible barrier that surrounded his circumference, reverting back to sand upon contact. The puzzle was protecting both Yami and his partner now that the game had come to an end.

But it wasn't time for that right now. With a soft smile Yami looked down at Yugi's limp body in his arms. Yugi's head rested serenely against Yami's shoulder, his eyes closed and his mind at rest for the first time in far to long.. It hurt that Yami had been forced to knock Yugi out like this. But Yami knew that he didn't have much option in the matter. Whatever Albus had done to Yugi's mind to make him panic like this, it wasn't safe to let Yugi loose right now. Yami had no idea how this spell of the old man's worked, and until he did Yami didn't dare try to remove it until he had the time to think through every possibility.

Bending at the knee, Yami carefully placed his unconscious partner down onto the ground before slipping his hand out from underneath Yugi's head. Yami wasn't sure how long this spell would last for, already Yugi's eyes were starting to flicker beneath his eyelids. With Yugi as exhausted as he was it didn't take much to knock him out, but at the same time anymore dark magic in Yugi' system may cause permanent damage, a thought Yami didn't dare dwell on. He would just have to be quick.

Only a few moments after the destruction had begun, the last of the walls and floor of the puzzle disappeared into the blackness of the dark game. In it's place formed an endless black sky that enveloped everything and seemed to go on for ever. It covered everything, the floor and the ceiling, giving even Yami a swirling sense of vertigo as his stomach leapt up into his throat. Yami quickly shook the feeling off however and he returned to the objective at hand.

To Yami's left Minerva remained on her knees, her eyes eyes glued to the ground at her feet, as if trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Her eyes were alight with trepidation and confusion, As they should be, Yami could help but think as he took in her quivering form. No longer could Minerva keep her fear control, and she shook, shivering so hard that Yami could see her body move even from this distance.

The woman deserved it, now she could begin to comprehend only a minute of portion what her people had put Yami and his light through. But once Yami was done with her, Minerva would be screaming, pleading for this moment of peace of return. This apprehension was absolutely nothing compared to what Yami had in mind. He would rip her pitiful mind into shreds, before moving onto to Albus, it wouldn't take much to make the old man's mind crack.

"Game over" Yami whispered in a coy hiss as he stepped away from Yugi's body, carefully noticing the twitch in Yugi's little finger."You lose Minerva"

Minerva's head lifted as she heard the sound of heavy boots against a floor that she couldn't see, and the rich timber of Yami's voice as he approached her once more. Minerva swallowed past the lump that as gathering in her throat as she stared up at Yami, wincing at the satisfied smile on his face. Minerva's pulse started to quicken as a cold sweat broke over her skin. She had no idea what had happened, one second she had been working at the puzzle, Minerva had even been able to solve about half of it. But now... now everything was gone. The puzzle, the room, everything, taking with it any hope of making it out of this alive.

Yami loomed over her as the air grew frigid and Minerva could only watch as he smirked, looking down at her like she was nothing more than a miserable ant about to be smothered beneath his boot. He was waiting for her to make the first move, Minerva realized as her finger's curled around the handle of her wand. He wanted her to beg for her life like some freighted little girl. The words never actually felt Yami's mouth, but Minerva could eel them in his gaze. Did he actually think that Minerva, a Gryffindor would stoop that low?

Yami had complete control in this situation, it was something he never bothered to hide form her. That men wore control like a cloak. Yes Minerva has lost this game, but she would not roll over like some yellow bellied dog. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Minerva took a long breath to control herself. It rattled in her chest from the force of her shaking as she released the lungful of air in a controlled breath. But eventually her body stilled and her hand became steady once more. She had seen far worse things during the war, come out of worst scrapes... of course she couldn't think of any right now, but that wasn't the point. Even if Minerva died here, it would be with her head held high.

Yami's held titled quizzically to the side as Minerva regained her footing once more, holding her wand out defensively in front of her. Yami's eyes flickered down to the point directed at his chest, the large smirk settling down to a calculating glare.

"I must say that i'm impressed Minerva" Yami said, his voice levelled and controlled "I never expected you to try and follow the game through to the end."

"Well, that's because you know nothing about me" Minerva responded as her fingers tightened around her wand, expecting Yami to attack at any moment. But he seemed so non pulsed at the moment. As if his attention was divided somewhere else. His eyes seemed to flicker off somewhere to his right ever few seconds, to open air.

"Don't I now?" Yami asked as if he pretending to think through a child's logic. "While you didn't cheat, I dare say that my prediction was pretty accurate, without my lights interference I have a feeling this game would have ended far earlier."

A step forward now, Yami began to advance and Minerva was forced to take a step back of her own to maintain the open space between them. A shower of red sparks erupted from the top of her wand, waring Yami to stay away. "What are you talking about?" Minerva snapped, as Yami's eyes flicked to the side once more. "Who interfered?"

Yami's eyebrow rose, "You don't see him do you?" Yami inquired, his eyes burning into Minerva's. "Your mind is so closed off that you can't even see what's in front of you. Or beside you in this case I guess."

Frowning at the jab, Minerva followed Yami's gaze to the far corner of the room. For a moment the corner seemed to shimmer slightly, into the shape of something that could be someone. But when Minerva blinked, the barely glittering outline was gone without a trace. Minerva squeezed her eyes tight once more, trying to erase the image from her mind. It was probably just another mind trick, Yami seemed to be fond of those. It was beginning to grate

It was almost sad how easy Minerva was to frustrate. While she was careful to at least try to keep a stoic face, Yami could see the pale red tinge to her face, and the thin, dead straight line to her lips. It clouded her judgement. Minerva had touched the Millennium puzzle, placed the last piece into place. Yami could feel her presence seeped into the very metal, the influence her soul made on the connections. In the long run it didn't mean anything, but Minerva had been able to see Yami when he had come out of the puzzle in spirit form. If she had been able to see him when he was supposedly invisible to all, then there was no reason why she shouldn't have been able to see Yugi. The principle was identical.. But as soon as Yami pushed the right buttons, annoyed her to bursting point, that open part of her mind slammed shut with the force of a barricaded door.

It was a funny trait, but it wouldn't matter in a moment

/

Yugi groaned as he slowly began to come to. He felt heavy, like someone had draped a lead blanket over top of him. IT weighed heavily on his arms and legs, trying to dag him back down to sleep. TI seemed like a good idea at the moment, to just drift back into unconsciousness. He was so, tired. More than the feeling of first thing monday morning after a good weekend. It was if every inch of his subconscious was sending subliminal messages to his body, like it was trying to trick Yugi into believing he had never fallen to sleep in the first place. So why not fall asleep again? If his body wanted it, why not grant it's desires?

Against Yugi's will however his mind began to reconnect with the world around him, rousing his body. Yami had knocked him out, that's why Yugi had fallen asleep. Yami had actually forced Yugi to fall unconscious... he was still feeling the after effects as Yugi lay on the freezing cold floor. The spell's drive to sleep was slowly starting to fade away, but it felt as if he had been run over by a cement truck, then woken up about five years too early.

Another groan as Yugi opened his eyes, fighting the temptation of Yami's spell to ignore everything. The clouds of the dark game swirled around him, dancing in designs of blue and green. Not overly interesting to look at, it only presented Yugi with information he already knew and wasn't keen on revisiting. Instead Yugi flopped his head to the side, as that seemed to be the only part of his body that was willing to respond at this point.

Minerva was still up and standing, that was a plus at the very least. But after what had happened with Yami, Yugi wasn't sure what that little asset meant, was there anything left he could do? There had to be something...Yami was just in front of Minerva, a hand resting on his hip as he stared. Minerva had her wand out as well, and that was where Yami's eyes were directed. And so that magical plus disappeared, so much for that.

"I've had enough of these mind games Yami." Minerva hissed as Yugi watched in dismay. He tried so hard to get up as Yami chuckled darkly. Yugi tried to get his legs to respond, to do what he didn't know. Maybe to try and push Yami out of that little ring of fire. Something, anything at this point. It didn't matter what, as long as that something didn't involve lying helpless on the ground.

But it felt as if Yugi's body had given up. He had been pushing it too had for far too long. There wasn't anything left to push him up onto his feet, Yugi's muscles screamed in riot at the very thought. "Alright then" Yami replied with a noncommittal shrug, "if you no longer wish to play, than I'll grant your desire"

Slowly, slowly Yugi pulled himself up onto his knees, his weight falling to rest on his hands as his torso refused to remain upright. No one had noticed the fact he was awake yet, both Yami and Minerva seemed oblivious to everything right now, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. Yugi wanted to scream at Minerva to get away. But no matter how loud his voice was Minerva would never hear. But Yugi tried anyway, he tried to scream until his voice gave out, but Yugi doubted even Yami heard the hoarse whisper that came out of his mouth.

If Minerva had even the faintest hint of what horrible fate was about to befall her however, she didn't show it however. The witch stood tall and proud even as the eye on the millennium puzzle began to glow. Yami smirked as he raised his hand, preparing to declare Minerva's final judgement, but Minerva was faster. Before Yami even had a chance to activate the puzzle she swung her wand through the air. "Stupefy!" she cried as her wand gave a definite flick and a jet of red lights surged from the tip.

Yami's eyes widened as the spell soared towards him, he hadn't expected her to fight back like this. There wasn't enough time to duck as the spell came towards him, forcing Yami to arch his back at the last minute. He threw an arm behind him to try and catch his weight as his back bent nearly parallel to the ground. But it was a very near miss however as the red sparks streaked the side of his face, crisping his blonde hair and singed Yami's cheek.

Yami growled as he righted himself, tanned fingers reaching up to ghost over his face, testing the burned skin, following the red streak against his tanned skin. His upper lifted curled as Yami extended his hand once more, his finger's splayed wide as he shouted the worlds that Yugi had been trying to prevent for so long.

"Penalty game" Yami shouted as time froze for Yugi. He could only watch as Minerva's eyes grew huge and her mouth opened as she unleashed a blood curdling scream. She dropped to her knees's as the colour drained from her face like water colours in a rain storm. But her knees were only able to hold her up right for a mere moment before she pitched forward, crashing face first into the ground with a soft thump.

Yugi gagged into his hand as Minerva's head lolled uselessly to her side. Her eyes remained wide and unseeing as they rolled into the back of her head, giving Yugi a disturbing sight of the whites of her eyes. He could see them move, darting from one side of her head to the next as her face twitched in a nightmare But as the last echoes of her scream died away no other sound came from the witches mouth, leaving only a deafening silence.

"No..." Yugi moaned as he gave one more attempt to stand, not even thinking about what he was doing. He wobbled dangerously as he slid to Minerva's side, catching onto her shoulder and turning her onto her back. "This can't be happening." Yugi reached out to place to fingers to the side of Minerva's throat, praying beyond hope that what had just happened wasn't reality.

Yugi's eyes squeezed shut, a dry sob escaping his lips as he felt the soft pulse underneath his finger tips. It was barely noticeable as the body forced itself into sleep mode. There was nothing to keep it conscious without a soul, so her body was just working with what it had, shutting down all unnecessary functions. Yet at the same time her heart rate was racing as he mind perceived a threat, and began to panic. Yugi knew all the signs, but he didn't want to admit it quiet yet.

"It's over" Yami whispered, his shoulders slumping softly in relief. Yami never slouched, But Yugi could see the subtle changes in his posture instantly, even if he couldn't understand it. How could Yami be so relaxed when Yugi himself was near sick with trepidation?

"Come on Aibou, it's time to go home."

Yugi froze at Yami's words, shrinking away from his dark's outstretched hand. "Put her back" yugi whispered as he stared at Minerva's face, following each of the worry lines etched on her features.

"Why?" Yami asked gently as he stood behind his partner. He hadn't expected Yugi to wake up this quickly, he had hoped Yugi would have at least waited until the game was over. But that complete shut down of Yugi's mind should have disconnected any foreign presence, at least for the moment. It would have taken Albus far longer than this to regroup the spell, the old man would have to rebuild its structure from the ground up. Yet here was Yugi, and Yugi alone, his eyes hard as amethysts as he turned to face his other.

"I said put her soul back Pharaoh." Yugi said again, trying to keep his mind focused and on one thought. But that strength was beginning to crumble around him as everything fell into place. Yami had finished the job, fulfilled his intent. Why would would he bother to save Minerva now?

It was over. When they got back to Hogwarts, the wizards wouldn't take the all but death of their college lightly. They would probably bring out an entire army, or whatever equivalent wizards had. Yami was strong, but no man, no mater how great could win a battle that outnumbered.

The wizards would separate them again. Take the puzzle way without hesitation, shatter it again before locking it up and throwing away the key. There would be no saving grace this time, Yami and Yugi had lost their only allies in this new world. Because of Yami's absolute inability to think like a rational human being, Yugi would never see him again.

"Oh, Mou Hitori no Boku" All thoughts of anger or fear shattered into nothingness i that one moment ans Yugi turned around, wrapping his arms around Yami's waist. Without even pausing to think, Yugi pressed his face into Yami's legs as he cried, clinging to his other like a lost child.

Yami frowned at the pressure, trying to deal with Yugi's mood shifts. But no matter what happened, Yugi came first. It didn't matter if Yami wasn't sure if Yugi was being sincere or if this was just a trick, he could feel that Yugi was on his last legs. From the way Yugi's body slumped against his, Yami knew his light was running on empty. You can't get something for nothing.

"Please Mou Hitori no Boku" Yugi chocked out, his voice muffled against Yami's leg as Yami's hand came down to lay at the base of Yugi's skull, stroking comfortingly. "Don't do this again, don't let this happen again. You've done this before, in America, I thought I lost you then. Not again, don't risk everything just to prove your right"

The last part of Yugi's words where lost in soft sobs as Yugi pressed closer, tightening his arms around Yami's middle as if terrified of letting go. "I don't care if we never go home, I love you. I don't want to lose you, not like this. Not again."

This seen was so familiar, Yami recognized the sheer desperation in Yugi's voice as a flash of green light erupted behind his eyes. The light burned, searing at his soul in away Yami had only ever felt once before. It was the last time, and only time before that Yugi had ever begged for something. And the only time before now that Yami had ever ignored him.

Yami forced down the bile that rose in his throat at the thought. This was far to close to what had happened with Dartz, when Yami had let his anger and his pride overwhelm his mind. The consequences had been so great that Yami had sworn to ever deity he had ever known that he would never let this scenario happen again. Yet there they were, in the same place they had been in that forsaken desert.

Yami ran his hand down the back of Yugi's head, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles on Yugi's neck. This wasn't the reunion that Yami had wanted for his light. While Yami hadn't actually given much thought to what the ideal rescue and reunion would be like, he knew it wasn't this.

What was Yami risking by not giving what Yugi had been saying a chance. Very little now that Yami actually took the time to think about it. In all actuality, the more Yami thought about it, the more the irrational anger that was clouding his own judgement started to dissipate. The same thing he had been scorning Minerva for.

Yugi was well beyond words as he chocked on each tear filled gasp. Any second now he knew that Yami was just going to force him to let go and end the game. It would be too late then, far to late to do anything that could save Minerva or them. They would be separated again.

Yugi couldn't go back there. It was the only thought going through his mind. He couldn't be separated from Yami again and forced back into that room after knowing what freedom felt like again. But he wouldn't have a choice.

Yami flinched as Yugi started the grasp at the material of his pants, twisting the leather until it pinched at Yami's skin. Yugi was completely lost in his own world as Yami gently untangled Yugi's hands from the cloth. Instead Yami draped Yugi's arms around his shoulders as he dropped down to his own knees and placed his hands on either side of Yugi's face, leaning forward to press their foreheads together.

"Please Mou Hitori no Boku" Yugi whispered, his words barely audible through the sobbing and sheer exhaustion. "no more... I can't... I can't do it"

Reaching out, Yami extended his awareness to the barriers between his and Yugi's mind. It only took a few seconds to shatter the self imposed blockade in his own head, leaving only the bare necessities to keep Yugi safe. But then Yami began to work through the remains of Yugi's own had to gain access to Yugi's subconscious mind. More than just a memory which could be so easily influenced by outside influences, the subconscious would grant the truth. Something pure, and as long as Yugi's soul remained in one piece it would remain uniquely his lights, untouchable by any source.

Slowly and oh so carefully Yami pressed his conscious against the door of Yugi's soul room. The part of the defences that were of Yami's own design greeted him instantly, yielding like warm butter underneath Yami's mental touch.

But that was the only part that gave as Yugi stiffened in Yami's hold, his mind resisting Yami's touch. It was an understandable response after so much mental torture. Every ounce of energy Yugi could spare was going into keeping the shied up even if they where necessary anymore. It didn't matter who tried to access Yugi's mind, friend or foe Yugi would put everything into trying to repel it.

Yugi's muscles clenched a Yami gave another nudge, and tried even harder to push Yami's presence away. But Yami persisted until he felt the piece of metal around Yugi's neck begin to radiate heat and heard Yugi cry out. Yami pulled free without a second thought as the cries escalated into screams. Yugi quieted instantly, slumping boneless against Yami as the collar fell silent once more.

"Aibou" Yami whispered as he brushed a lock of Yugi's hair behind his ear. Blood shot eyes looked up at him As Yugi tried to focus his attention on his other. But Yami could see the apology swirling in the glazed amethyst. 'Aibou it's okay, it's just me I won't hurt you. Just trust me and let me in"

Yugi whimpered softly, leaning his cheek against Yami's chest. "If I try, will you save Minerva?" he whispered breathlessly.

"I don't know." Yami couldn't help but be completely honest with Yugi right now. There were to many variables that had to be considered before taking such a reckless action. But Yami's response was good enough for Yugi. Maybe it was sincerity or the hesitation, but Yugi's mind finally slid open, the large wooden door to his soul room opening without resistance.

As soon a Yami's presence graced the threshold of Yugi's soul room, he was bombarded with memories of screaming and pain. Yami clenched his teeth as sensations of helplessness and sorrow washed over him, so strong it nearly took Yami off his feet. Images began to falls in front of Yami's mind: people, face, long blue robes, a pump man in a bowler hat with a fanatical grin o is face. Emotions follow each image: anger so strong that it was almost hatred, fear, confusion. This wasn't a face that Yami had ever seen before. He was sure that he would remember that stupid of a hat.

Face after face flashed by, none that Yami recognized, but all with the same feelings that were connected with the bowler hat man, but never with the same intensity. Yami growled as the features of Yugi's tormentors appeared before him. Yugi wouldn't have wanted to show him this. It didn't matter how much there people had hurt Yugi, he wouldn't search for revenge. But Yami would, without hesitation. For Yugi to actually show him the identity of his attackers was an act of desperation.

The flow of images came to a stop and the perceptions that followed them morphed into something different as a red haired man came into the forefront. At the time Yugi had felt confusion just as before, but this time it lacked the negative undercurrent. It was more surprise that Yugi had felt, hope. Then the face was gone, leaving only black as emotions swirled around.

One more face appeared out of the darkness. It was a little hazed around the edges, but Yami recognized Minerva's thin stern features. There were no negative feelings connected to Minerva, even the deepest corner of Yugi's mind. Just similar feelings to those with the red haired man mingled with a sensation of loyalty.

Yugi felt like he owed Minerva his life, Yami came to realize. It had been Minerva who had dragged Yugi out of wherever he had been kept. Minerva who had done what Yami had been unable, to bring Yugi to safety, away from the man with the stupid hat.

"_Minister"_ Yugi said in their minds, still shaken, but his mental voice was beginning to stabilize. "_his __name was Minister"_

Yami snorted, shaking his head. That didn't sound any better than stupid hat guy in the long run. Was that actually his name?

"Will you let her go?" Yugi asked again, unwilling to be hopeful, but at the same time Yugi was just as reluctant to give up this chance.

For the fist time since he had awoken, Yami was pausing to think about what he was doing. It could be done, of course, placing a soul back into the body after a penalty game. Who knew what the end results would be however. A penalty game wasn't a summer retreat. It was designed to traumatize, to find every weakness in a person's mentality and break them apart.

It could be done. But could and should are two very different words.

Yugi pulled free from Yami and slowly made his way over to where Minerva was lying. Yami followed not a step behind, keeping a hand on the square of Yugi's back in case he stumbled. Kneeling down Yugi took Minerva's hand and gently rested it across her chest. A bead of sweat rolled down Minerva's face as her jaw locked and her face clenched.

Yami looked up to the ceiling of the dark game and back down to his light. They had been here for far too long. The dark game was starting to grow agitated, and Yami was beginning to feel the drain of maintaing it for so long. If this kept up Yami was sure he would be able to help Yugi either. The dark game would love to take Yugi down with Minerva, and would not hesitate to do so if Atem's attention split.

If Minerva remained as she was now, it would provide them with the distraction they would need to leave. It would be hours before the wizards would be able to regroup, by then Yugi and Yami would be in the egypt underground. The tomb keepers had lived in those tomb for centuries, practicing every protection spell conceivable. That would have been where Yugi had sent Ryou, Bakura and Malik, and there was no way the wizards would be able to track them. It would give Yugi and Yami the necessary time to regroup before going after Minister.

One look at Yugi's face quick dispelled that idea however. His light was looking up at Yami so intently as he held Minerva's hand, waiting for Yami's answer. It felt as if Yugi was daring him to refuse. Yami had been the Pharaoh of Egypt before Yugi, the leader of a nation, commander of an army, a master strategist and tactician. While it would have negative repercussions in the beginning, ever ounce of Yami's training wanted him to just leave Minerva on the ground. The long term results where obviously in their favour, even if Yugi didn't see that right now. But that part of Yami's life was over. He had made the decision to stay with Yugi through thick and thin. After Doma, he had promised to follow what Yugi asked without hesitation.

It was time he kept that promise.

Shaking his head, Yami moved from behind Yugi to kneel on Minerva's other side, resting his hand overtop of Yugi's, intertwining their fingers overtop of Minerva's hand. Yugi's face glowed as a huge smile spread across his face. Whatever happened next, Yami knew it would be worth it as long as he got to see Yugi's face light p like that again. Even if it was only once more.

With a mental nudge from Yami, Yugi's hands untangled from Yami's. He took Minerva's hands off her chest as well, laying them parallel to her body to give Yami room to work. Taking a deep breath Yami centred his mind, focusing on the puzzle. Reaching out Yami lay two fingers on the small piece of skin between Minerva's eyes, and another two resting over her heart.

Slowly Yami extended his consciousness into the puzzle as he connected his mind to whatever was left of Minerva's. The puzzle warmed against Yami's chest in response, heating almost past comfort as it processed Yams request. This was the last thin the energy of the dark game wanted. The magic from the puzzle was warped, twisted to the point of maliciousness. Formed by the blood of 99 souls, there were no good intentions hidden within the puzzle, or any of the items.

Now that it had Minerva's soul, the puzzle wouldn't want to give it back. It was like trying to take a prize from a child who felt like they deserved it more than anything in the world. A bead of sweat rolled down Yami's cheek as he pushed harder against the puzzle. No matter what the puzzle wanted, Yami was still the one who controlled it. The energy within the puzzle was his, and his alone to control.

It was nice logic, but the puzzle was refusing to budge. Shaking his head, Yami tried to ignore the headache that was beginning to form from the pressure. The puzzle wasn't a sentient being; it didn't talk, it didn't think. But it was, in it's own Frankenstein's monster-ish kind of way alive. And it was resiting the only way it new how.

Yami squeezed his eyes shut, focusing solely on the task at hand. Somewhere in the distance, Yami could see a faint glow, a soft flickering light, trapped within the dark illusion he had created. But it was too far away to reach. The dark game was determined to keep it's prize. But if there was nothing that Yami could do, then there was nothing he could do. A penalty game was not designed to be rerouted once competed.

Yami began to pull free, seeing no point in continuing. He wasn't going to exhaust himself to save her life. Not when chances were he was going to have to fight free. Let the dark game have it's prize if it wanted.

Something brushed against Yami's arm, and he turned his head to see Yugi pulling himself up by the back of Yami's shirt. An eyebrow rose as Yugi draped his arms over Yami's shoulders, his hands falling over Yami's chest as his head fell against the nape of Yami's neck. He could feel warm puffs of breath against the sensitive skin, and Yami shivered at the feeling.

"_Yugi?"_

For a moment Yugi didn't respond to his other's question, only pressed himself closer until there was no empty space between them. "_It's not you that controls the puzzle Mou Hitori no Boku"_

Yami frowned, twisting his neck as far around as he could in hopes of catching Yugi's eye. "_What do you mean by that?The items are under my dominion, as they always have been."_

"_No, not your dominion, our." _Yugi continued as his hands followed down Yami's arms, forcing his dark to grip the puzzle tighter. His mind brushed against Yami's in the most delicate of caresses, triggering Yami's _"It was Atemu who controls the puzzle. Not you, Mou Hitori no Boku, nor me,_ _us." _

The little globe of light appeared before Yami's eyes once more, as unreachable as before. Yami was going to ask Yugi what the point of all this rambling once, to tell him to stop so Yami could just end the game.

But then Yugi pushed their minds together, moving past a boundary they hadn't touched in years, Not since their duelling days. Yami no Yugi wouldn't be complete with part of Yami's mind segregated because of the dark game, but Yami could feel Yugi's essence swirl around his own. The sensation filled Yami's body, leaving even the tips of his fingernails tingling.

The little orb flickered slightly in response to Yugi's coaxing, and Yami started to pull as well. This wasn't magic, Yami realized as the soul began to grow closer, and Yugi's lips pulled into a tiny smile. It wasn't a fight, wasn't aggressive. Yugi wasn't pushing against the puzzle, it almost felt like he was sweet talking the puzzle, cajole it into giving him what he wanted. Yami pushed harder, as the Millennium puzzle began to waver, faltering under the double assault. Yami's hostility combined with Yugi's delicacy. The aggressor and the diplomate, this was how wars were one.

The light grew brighter, so close that Yami could almost touch it. Put Yugi kept working, tempting, luring the soul back towards Minerva's body. Yami pulled away as her consciousness came closer, pulling his darker presence away, knowing it would startle her. The soul was already skittish, barely following Yugi's enticement. But it was drawn to Yugi's warmth like a moth to a flame.

Yugi's smile grew, soft and serene as he leaned around Yami, his finger's falling to Minerva's lips. Her body twitched at Yugi's touch, chest heaving as everything reconnected as it was supposed to. Her back arched as if drawn against invisible strings, her weight resting on the back of her head and her ankles. Yugi leaned forward, watching Minerva's features carefully as colour came back to her face, and her fingers flexed and twitched, scrapping against the ground. Minerva eyes widened as they lost their cloudy quality, focusing as her body collapsed to the ground.

Minerva didn't move again as she lay on the cool floor, panting as if she had just run a marathon. Yugi gently swept a loose piece of black hair that had fallen free from Minerva's tight bun, out of her face, smiling as Minerva's eyes flickered in his direction. They narrowed sharply behind her glasses, as if seeing something for the first time. Her hand lifted, shaking violently as they reached up to Yugi's cheek."You..." she whispered, confusion soaking her rasping voice as her finger tips brushed the skin of Yugi's face. "How?"

The question would be left unanswered however as the strain on Minerva's mind took precedent and Minerva's eyes closed. The hand on Yugi's cheek fell away, falling limply to the ground as Minerva's stern features relaxed dramatically, falling into a natural sleep.

"I'm sorry" Yugi whispered as he stood up, taking a step back from the women who had tried to hard to save him. At least she was going to be alright, and that was what mattered. At least Albus would know that they had saved his friend, maybe everything would be okay. No moment, no matter how horrible could last forever, it had to end as all things do.

Yugi's knees buckled underneath his weight as what was left of his own adrenaline drunk energy reserves disappeared out from under him. Sleeping seemed like a good idea now, maybe for the next few millennia. Yugi felt Yami catch him as the world began to disappear for the far to many-ith time that day. And the world started to warm as the dark game dissolved, it's purpose finally finished as Yami forced it to end. Yugi could feel it sulk as it was forced to disappear without a prize. Or could it even sulk? Yugi wasn't sure. He would have to ask Yami when he woke up.

* * *

And so ends the dark game portion of the story. We can actually move forward now! Ryou and the gang are up next, so stay tuned.


	12. Chapter 12

See it's a little faster this time! But then again I've been camping with my boyfriend and his friends. Which is super fun 80% of the time. But the other 20% I'm realizing just how stupid guys can be... Personally I don't see the interest in trying to kill myself. I like to call that my "run away to the Starbucks in town and do some writing" time.

Special thanks to vampiregirl 31, DemonKittyAngel and Bonnie-San for beta-ing this. And double thanks to Bonnie-San again for helping me through the Bakura section. It's hard to keep Bakura in character when your making him a good-ish guy. This becomes even more difficult when your trying to give him a sappy moment.

* * *

Ryou stumbled as he ran forward, the sudden change in his balance causing the stitch in his side to be thrown into a more noticeable existence. The sharp stabbing pain that spread up his spine with fiery precision caused a hitch in his breath, making it impossible to breathe. But he wasn't getting enough air into his lungs as it was, and his muscles began to burn from the exertion as his jaw began to tingle.

Ryou had never been much into running. Or physical activity in general. A waste of time, energy, and the general uncomfortable feeling one gained was just not worth it in his opinion. But Ryou was far past caring about how his body felt at the moment. Despite the fact his body was screaming for him to stop and catch his breath, Ryou kept running. He had to get away. Away from the heat, the suppressive air of the caves. Away from Bakura and Malik.

Just away.

Further and further he ran, taking sharp turns, and traveling deeper into the caverns than he had ever dared to before, in fear of getting lost. Left, right, straight, left... Ryou wasn't paying attention anymore. The stones were nothing more than a brown blur, the sandy floor which his shoes skidded against may have been as smooth a surface as cement for all he noticed. Torches lined the walls, the only light source in these dark tunnels. But he couldn't see even their burning light, everything was black.

Water blurred in his eyes, and it burned as it flowed down his cheeks in constant rivers. The liquid flowed into Ryou's open mouth as he gasped in another panting breath, causing him to choke on the salty tears. He spluttered for a moment, choking in blind panic, and his foot caught underneath his weight, rolling painfully out from beneath him.

Ryou collapsed to the ground in a boneless heap, unable to move from the spot he had fallen. His lungs burnt as if some had forced him to breathe in a lit match, and his legs felt like an odd cross between lead and jello. Somewhere in the back of Ryou's mind that impulse to run remained, but his body was no longer responding. So he lay there gasping and moaning like a lost child.

Shakily Ryou rolled onto his side, and drew his knees up to his chest, tucking himself up into a tight ball. The pain in his heart was too much... too much to deal with right now. It made him nauseous... Ryou could feel his stomach churning as he rolled in tighter, could feel the acid burning in his throat.

Not since Amane had Ryou ever felt anything like this. The death of his little sister had nearly killed him. The loss of Yugi may as well finish him off.

More than a friend. Yugi understood everything about him, what he was going through with Bakura. Understood the feeling of suddenly blacking out and never knowing when you woke up how many people had been hurt. Never knowing if they had ended up dead or insane just for the crime of talking the wrong way to you. Never knowing if it was you that was going insane... Nobody else understood, the feeling of having to control and maintain the sanity of a figure that could quite effectively destroy the entire world. Having a Dark could at times make life unbearable, yet you wouldn't give it away for anything.

Ryou had thought the same about Yugi. So much so, in fact that Ryou had admitted rather sheepishly to being envious of Yami no Yugi's presence when Yugi and he had been talking so long ago. Ryou had said that he would have given an arm and a leg to have a dark that wasn't hell bent on robbing and killing anything that moved. Ryou couldn't hide his desire, his craving to have that kind of protecting, loving figure in his life.

To this day Ryou could still feel the immense confusion that had bubbled in his chest as Yugi's disbelieving snort transformed into barely concealed giggles. Protective? Yugi had said that one could take Yami's interactions with Yugi like that. Only if they wanted to sugar coat the word possessive.

"Gods," Yugi had said. "How many of Yami's superhero-esque rescues had only happened because someone somewhere had the audacity to touch that which belonged to the Pharaoh." Sure Yami had saved the world, played the perfect Hero; he had changed in ways that shouldn't have been possible. But there was so much more that every single one of Yugi's friends over looked.

Ryou's disbelief had still held, Yugi had to have been pulling his leg. Yami, the white haired teen had countered, was the perfect gentle men. One that was not obsessed with excessive violence like Bakura was. Yami only fought when he had to, to protect his loved ones.

After that point, Yugi's laughter went from being barely concealed to uncontrollable. Still laughing, he had pulled free a slightly worn looking spiral bound notebook from his backpack which had lain forgotten at his feet. With shaking hands, Yugi had dropped the book onto the table, before taking a few deep steadying breaths to steady himself.

"Yugi, What's this?" Ryou had asked as he ran his finger over the plain purple cover. The notebook had looked like all the rest of Yugi's school books. Purple cover, white ruled paper. But the book looked thicker than the rest of Yugi's notebooks. As if other pages had been shoved into it.

The ear to ear grin that had been the dramatic after affect from Yugi's impromptu laughing fit slipped from his features, and his expression became solemn and reflective in the space of a second. "I took it from my locker when you said you wanted to talk." Yugi had said in a flat tone as he opened the notebook on his lap. "This was my sanity for an unfortunate amount of time between solving the millennium Puzzle and Duelist Kingdom."

Ryou had been so confused, as he leaned over to look at the slightly worn pages. Carefully he had taken the notebook out of Yugi's lap and dropped it down onto his own. The pages were crinkled and they rustled as Ryou begun to leaf through the pages. Yugi had filled the entire thing with newspaper clippings, and a few odds and ends that barely seemed to make sense in any context. A solid gold ankh cufflink, a slightly bent Queen of Spades card, a piece of cloth so burnt and so dark that he could barely see the original orange colour. If those hadn't been confusing enough, Ryou found himself struggling to understand the articles.

"_Local teen pleads insanity after assaulting high-school janitor for stealing... a pile of leafs?"_

"_Convicted felon spontaneously combusts at local dinner. Wi__tness provides a__nswers fit for fairy tales."_

"_Registered sex offender found dead in local warehouse."_

"_5__th__ admission to mental ward in weeks causes local psychologists to raise the alarm."_

"_Monster Fighter System recalled after student is seriously injured at Domino High school."_

"_Substitute teacher at Domino High School collapses screaming. Panic attack sources say."_

The list had gone on and on, to the point where Ryou no longer bothers to read the articles, instead he had only skimmed the headlines. Something about a shop keeper... and a scorpion? Were there even Scorpions in Domino? The colour had left Ryou's face, leaving the already ghost like teen with an ash like complexion. "Yugi? What is this!"

The question had been the exact same as the one before, right down to the last syllable. But the inflection asked an entirely new question. Not out of curiosity, but of concern and apprehension. Yugi had sighed, leaning forward to flip to the last page of the notebook. A list of names stood stark clear, written in hasty, shaky black ink. As if the writer at the time had been unable to keep his hand steady.

"I started working on this notebook... a few days after playing our first Dark game against Bakura." Yugi had said, his voice so soft that Ryou had to strain to hear the whisper, despite sitting shoulder to shoulder with his friend.

"That was when I saw Yami for the first time, saw that look in his eye when Bakura was putting me in danger. At the time I didn't truly get what it meant, but I understood well enough to start to connect the dots."

Yugi had fallen silent, So Ryou nudged his friend in the ribs, gently persuading Yugi to continue. For a moment an echoing exhale was the only response Ryou received before Yugi started to speak once more. "The random blackouts, the new expensive stuff hidden in the back of my closest; leather pants, boots, chains. Things like knives and lighters that I most definitely had no recollection of buying. The realization that if someone had hurt me or my friends... whoever it was, no matter how minor the action, I wasn't going to see them the next day. I was so scared Ryou... you know the feeling. Never knowing what your body would end up doing when you closed your eyes. So I decided to keep track. I had no idea what I intended to do with the thing... but it helped.

Ryou ran had run a soft finger against the words written so haphazardly, some almost intelligible in places, where others were as stark and clear as day.

Seto Kaiba for one.

"Kaiba was one of many, and one of the only ones to recover..." Yugi had replied to Ryou's unspoken question. "I'm not one hundred percent sure what happened there, but for some reason Yami almost seemed to calm down a bit. Now that I think about it, after that I started to accept Yami's presence. The black outs lessened, as did the random deaths and disappearances."

Yugi sighed again, leaning further back into the leather sofa in Ryou's living room, his arms wrapped loosely around his knees. "When I wrote that book, the list was a lot longer than I had originally expected. Everywhere I turned some other person had gone insane or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I had singlehandedly raised Domino's violent crime rate. I felt so scared and sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to be angry at Mou Hitori no Boku...

"I was able to forgive him so easily. In a way I felt guilty, as if I was trying to condemn him. So I kept the notebook in my locker at school... I never intend for Mou Hitori no Boku to see it. I mean he's so much better now. He hasn't actually created a dark game in ages. In a way it's kind of like the more I trusted Mou Hitori no Boku, and accepted his presence in my life... the more sane he became." Yugi paused, leaning back as he tipped his neck against the back of the couch, leaning his head to the ceiling. "I think that's going to be your answer with Bakura, Ryou. Because, even though Yami never hurt me as he hurt you, and I am not even going to try and insert myself into that little circle; his body count is just as bad, if not longer than Bakura's."

Ryou owed Yugi everything. Yet to repay him, Ryou had done nothing but stared as his friend was carried off by people that bared nothing but ill-intentions.

"_It's__ over Ryou..."_

A chocked sob ripped its way through clenched teeth, and Ryou felt blood swell into his mouth from where he had bit his lip to try and keep the sound inside of himself. There was no use however as sob after sob followed after its brother, taking complete control of Ryou's body.

_Yugi was dead!_

Every ounce of Ryou was attempting to scream in denial. There was no way that Yugi could be dead. It wasn't possible. Not Yugi. Not pull-through-at-the-last-second-every-time Yugi. It just didn't compute. Those words cycled their way through his system and reality was pounding against him with the force of a tsunami.

_Dead! _

_Dead!_

_Yugi was Dead!_

This wasn't like every time in the past. Usually Yugi would do something stupid and kick everyone else into finishing whatever job they were supposed to be doing, to take back control from the manic bent on destroying everything. This time however, the only instructions Yugi had given them was to stay away.

"Ryou?"

Yugi was dead! And it was all their fault. If only they had been able to fight for a little longer. If Ryou had been able to have some control over the light that the ring had granted him. If only these... wizards had left them alone. If only...

"Ryou!"

There were hands on his shoulders, Ryou noted blankly. They were holding him, lifting him up into a sitting position. Ryou's stomach churned as his centre of gravity shifted, and another ripping sob carried its way through his open lips.

One of the hands on his shoulders shifted slightly, moving to awkwardly rub circles into his back. The motion was jerky, not assured, made by a person that was not exactly well versed in the art of comforting. At the moment however, Ryou couldn't care less. He tilted his head to the side and buried it into the soft warmth of whoever was holding him up. The scent of sand and spices met his nose as Ryou pressed his cheek into the lilac material of the person's shirt.

Malik.

A small gasp slipped through the tomb keeper's lips as Ryou lurched forward, removing his body from Malik's support to wrap his arms around the teen. Malik struggled against the sudden vice grip, feeling the normally quiet and reserved Ryou starting to squeeze the air from his lungs.

Yet as the white haired boy's tears started to soak through the material of his hooded shirt, Malik realized that Ryou needed the physical contact. With a small sigh, Malik once again shifted to wrap his arms to loosely wrap around Ryou's back.

Ryou choked, and held on even tighter to Malik, continuing to sob helplessly. All Malik could do was sit and hold his friend. This was not his thing... comforting another person. It never had been. Normally he was on the 'go beat the crap out of whoever hurt you in the first place' team. Yugi was the one who would sit here, wrap his arms around Ryou and calm him down. The small light knew precisely what to say in this kind of situation.

Malik wasn't Yugi, and they both knew it.

Malik shuddered, feeling an icy cold hand wrap around him. Suddenly his own shaking started to mix with that of Ryou's. He couldn't control himself, despite the fact Malik knew that right now he needed to be strong, he was shaking like a leaf from the force of his emotions.

Yugi...

With a shuddering gasp, Ryou fought to regain control. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head from Malik's shoulder, and slowly unwound himself from his friend's self-conscious embrace. Yet just as Ryou was trying desperately to get control of his emotions, Malik was starting to break down.

Yugi meant more to them then either boy was willing to admit. Getting close to other people was dangerous, something both Ryou and Malik had learned on more than one occasion. Yet Yugi had welcomed them both into his life when they both needed it... without a moment's hesitation Yugi had let them into the Kame Game shop.

Now he was gone.

Water was starting to fall across Malik's face, he could feel the liquid stream across his cheeks. With a shaking hand, the one that Ryou finally let him have back, Malik raised his hand back up to his cheek, and ran his fingers over the wet skin.

The fact he was crying was a huge surprise.

They sat there like that for several minutes, clinging to each other. Ryou struggling to regain control of his emotions, to rationalize everything that was happening. Malik trying to understand what was happening, why he was, in fact crying. Maybe not quite as openly as Ryou, but crying all the same. Which was not something that he had done in a long... long time.

There was no denying the fact however, that he was crying. No denying that the news of Yugi's death could bring him to that state. For Malik could barely understand, he may have started to spend more and more time with the teen, but in truth, Malik knew nothing about him.

Only that it hurt far more than it should have to hear that he was gone.

"I'm sorry about this." Ryou finally said, taking a large shuddering breath through his mouth, still unable to even consider breathing through his nose. It was the first statement either boy had said in nearly ten minutes, and it shattered the awkward silence that had filled the air. Ryou's voice was horse and nasally from his crying, and his cheeks where cherry red from the tears, a sharp contrast to his tangled mass of pale white hair.

As awkward as the silence had been, hanging in the air like a leaden weight, the sound of silence had absolutely nothing on the expression of Malik's face. When Ryou's face finally drew up to meet Malik's own, the blonde teen hastily moved his hand up to his face and wiped away the lone tear that stubbornly clung to his eyelash.

Malik could only hope that Ryou hadn't seen. If Ryou had however, he was keeping silent about the embarrassing ordeal.

"Don't be sorry." Malik said gruffly in return to Ryou's statement. It was then that Malik realized that his arms were still wrapped around his friend. He stared at the limbs for a moment, before letting them drop awkwardly to his side, hanging like lead weights. "Bakura shouldn't have dealt with Yugi's de... this the way he did. He such a jackass sometimes."

Malik couldn't bring himself to say the word death. Even though he was supposed to be the tough guy, the insane one with no sense of emotional attachment. Here he was, the future dictator of the entire world and he was afraid of a single word. One single, and horribly final, word.

Despite Malik's stumble however a small chuckle was able to make its way through Ryou's lips. "It's not his fault." Ryou said, smacking his fist lightly against Malik's chest in mock violence. "He just doesn't handle things like this very well."

The hand stayed perched on Malik's chest however, the momentary flicker of light humour that had filled the air, disappearing like a candle in the wind. Malik could only watch with sad eyes as the fist on his shirt clenched tightly, the only thing preventing Ryou's finger nails from digging into the teens sensitive skin was the thin material of Malik's shirt. "He can't handle things like worrying, death and dying. Because of the way he was forced to 'grow up'."

Malik winced at Ryou's word choice, the usage of the unwritten taboo words that Malik had so carefully danced around but Ryou didn't notice. "He gets angry, and closed off, forgets that just saying things like they don't matter hurts everyone else, just like he used to be. He pretends like he doesn't care that it hurts not only us, but himself as well."

A sharp shudder ran down Malik's body, but he realized quickly that it wasn't his own. "Oh Malik..." Ryou cried, looking up to the blond with wide, teary eyes. "Do you really think he's gone?"

"I..." Malik paused. It would be so easy to lie. To hold off the unavoidable pain until there was actually concrete proof that this was actually happening. They had nothing more to go on beside the fact the ring was unable to pick up on Yugi's signature. Excuses started to run through Malik's mind like fire crackers.

_He escaped, and is in hiding like we are. Suppressing his magic to hide himself from the wizards, so even the ring can't find him._

_There's__ too much background magic for the ring to pick out one unique thread._

_We're too far away to pick up Yugi's signature._

_The underground is designed to be secret. Something in the walls is stopping Bakura's magic from leaving._

Who was he kidding? There was no time left to try and make excuses like this. Bakura was right, this was the real world. Not the dolled up fairy tale they had been living in for the last little while. They knew the ring worked in the caves, tested it the first day they got here. There was no chance that Yugi had managed to escape his captors, not with how diligent those men appeared. Chances were that after Yugi lived out his usefulness, or more likely they finally gave up on trying to break the runt, there would be absolutely no reason to keep him alive.

"Yes Ryou, I really do."

* * *

The chair splintered on contact with the wall. Spindled legs flew in a flurry of wooden chips before they fell to the ground in a pile of broken chunks. There was a low guttural growl from the shadows of the opposite corner. The hulking forest green exoskeleton of the Man Eater Bug leapt forward, slashing its claws through the remains of its prey before throwing the arm rest against the opposite wall once more.

The long blades of Man Eater Bug's hands rustled against each other, making a sickly screech as its eyeless face surveyed the room. It may have been messy and disorganized a few minutes ago, but that had nothing on the devastation now. Especially as Man Eater Bug advanced on the bookcase that stood beside the doorway.

There was an almighty crash as the book case toppled. Books and trinkets went sailing across the floor as the wood groaned, cracking along its middle. Man Eater Bug advanced on the remains, shredding its claws through the sturdy wood, leaving long grooves into even the stone floor beneath them. Wood and metal filled the air with deadly shards. But the only other occupant of the drop zone paid it no heed. Instead Bakura leaned against the far wall with his head down. He didn't even look up as a metal shard as long as his hand whistled through the air, striking the wall a mere centimetre from his ear. The makeshift dagger quivered, its tip buried into the sandstone.

"You useless piece of crap." Bakura seethed as his finger's tightened around the smooth gold. "Find Yugi Motou!"

Nothing

"Find the Millennium Puzzle!"

Nothing

Not a god damned thing. Not even a drop of reaction that could reveal an ounce of information as to where the midget and his bauble could be.

The door looked like it had been hit by a shrapnel bomb, as more and more wood and metal embedded into the previously sturdy door. Man Eater Bug hissed as wickedly sharp teeth ground together, its knife blade fingers lobbing and more shrapnel got stuck in the door. The pieces where getting longer and more deadly by the moment, escalated by Bakura's rising temper.

Bakura was angry. He was seething, livid, pissed at everything. At the Millennium Ring, the tombs, the wizards, and most specifically he was pissed at Yugi. Stupid brat, if he had given them five more minutes Bakura knew that he and Yami could have come up with a dark game. Conners had stepped out into the open, it would have been so easy. Yes he was completely ignoring that he hadn't thought of that idea at the time. But if that idiotic light had just given them a few more minutes then... Bakura could have!

Why did he care about this? Why was he trying to find the runt in the first place? The only purpose that light had in life was the Pharaoh. Bakura had even tried to kill him on more than one occasion. So why on Earth was Bakura stuck in this forsaken hell, getting all worked up over something that didn't matter in the slightest? So what if Yugi was missing or dead. It didn't matter!

There was no solid furniture left in the room now and Man Eater Bug turned his attention to the books that covered the floor. An ancient and probably priceless leather bound volume was instantly felled as it collided with the sharp edge of the long since destroyed desk. The spine split upon impact and the pages flew everywhere, ripped apart as soon as they came into Man Eater Bug's range.

The only reason why Bakura had even bothered to hang around was because Yami actually thought that he could boss Bakura around like he was still Pharaoh. Well he wasn't, and some short little twerp could not boss him around!

Who was he kidding? Yami hadn't ordered him to do anything. Nobody had, yet here he was, fighting with his worthless Millennium item... alone. Bakura glared at the Millennium ring, his breathing harsh and ragged in the destroyed room. Man Eater Bug's head swivelled around from the beautiful engraved, gold inlaid leather book cover it had been hacking apart. The once tough material fluttered to the ground like the finest of rice papers, the gristly sinew destroyed. The illusionary body flickered as Bakura's attention slipped away before disappearing completely as Bakura's drive for keeping it there dissolved.

Almost like coming down from a high, the anger slipped from Bakura's grasp like water into parched earth. It seemed to leave him with nothing as his bones suddenly felt hollow, leaving Bakura unwilling to remain standing.

He sank down onto the floor, his feet falling to rest against the ruined chair. The abused wood groaned under the slight weight, threatening to give out. But Bakura ignored it as he ran his hands through his hair, clenching his fingers. Bakura's nails dug into the tender flesh of his scalp, sending sharp shooting pains into his system. They where ones that Bakura relished however, and he focused on the feeling, using it to drown out the internal pain.

This was asinine, pathetic. This was Ryou. But no matter how hard Bakura tried to ignore it, Bakura couldn't deny the pan he was feeling. Pain that he shouldn't have been feeling, and under any normal circumstances he would have run anyone who suggested it through. Bakura slumped forward, his elbows digging into his knees, his fingers practicality sinking into his skull in an attempt to actually have a rational thought.

Bakura could remember the last time he had felt this kind of emotion. This slow aching pain that radiated from his core. The one that came from the knowledge you would never see a person again. Last time the results had been cataclysmic in a far too literal sense. Looking up, Bakura surveyed the room before him, taking in the damage to his domain. The amount of time and work that Ryou and Bakura had spent cleaning this room had completely gone to waste. It looked as if a bomb had gone off. But Bakura hadn't noticed before, all he had seen was red.

Yet as he sat here, that anger was beginning to swell once more. No matter what Bakura tried, his thoughts gravitated to the fight in the game shop, and Yami's final words after being sent here. Over and over again the events repeated themselves on a continuous loop, and Bakura couldn't shake them. Even as they added fuel to the fire.

Bakura's fist flew into the wall as he leapt to his feet. The stone crumbled underneath Bakura's fist, spider web cracks spreading out from the small dent. Dust settled along Bakura's knuckles, and he hissed as he felt the bones shift and snap underneath the skin. He swore, loud and without filter at the pain, holding the damaged limb to his chest as he launched a kick at the chair remains. It sailed into the offending wall, the remains of the once sturdy wooden chair shattering into a hundred pieces.

Whirling around Bakura glared at the remains of the table, seeing the ring dangling from an upturned shard of wood that stood vertically along the split along the centre. "I asked for one thing!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, grabbing the ring by its cord, preparing to throw it as well. The ring swung along the cord, shining in the torch light to rest against Bakura's raised arm. "To find that little royal pain in the arse! Is that too much to fucking ask!"

As the edge of the cord began to fall free of Bakura's grasp, he nearly jumped a foot in the air as the metal warmed up against his skin. In mid throw, Bakura reached up with his broken hand, grunting as the damaged knuckles where forced to move and grab the ring in mid flight. The ring dangled right in front of Bakura's eyes as the cord slipped to a far more comfortable position on his wrist. Bakura stared at the metal as if it had suddenly turned pink.

The triangle centred inside the ring was glowing faintly. If Bakura hadn't been staring at it he probably wouldn't have noticed it. His eyebrow rose however as he felt a faint current of magic beginning to reach his mind. It was foreign magic, but so similar to Ryou's that Bakura recognized it instantly. Normally Yugi's energy burnt like a star, but instead it was faint so faint, barely brushing against Bakura's mind as it was funnelled in by the Ring . It was flickering, wavering to the point where Bakura knew it was going to disappear without a moment's notice. Nor did the pointers that hung from the lower ring do more than shudder, giving no hint as to where Yugi could be.

But what did that matter? If the ring was beginning to respond to Yugi then something had changed. Bakura didn't know what, and in all honesty, he didn't care. Bakura slid the worn leather around his neck, feeling the comfortable weight settle. He cupped the ring in his unbroken hand, holding it up into the light, leaving the pointers to move. "Find the Millennium Puzzle!"

All at once the ring went from zero to a hundred as it began to shine a brilliant gold, light erupting from the eye in the center. The pointers swirled in a large circle; once, twice, thrice until it came to a shuddering halt to the left. They hung there, dead still, suspended in mid air even as the glow flashed brighter before dimming down and inward.

As the outward energy, dissipated, Bakura could feel it beginning to press against his mind. Gentle whispers came from the ring, layering in his mind forming more pictures than words. Specifics that slowly formed the location he had been searching for. Rolling, rocking, grass covered hills. Thick, damp forest where the trees blanketed even a ray of light. A large stone castle that towered in a quiet setting, yet seemed to belong there. Even from a distant image Bakura could see the remainders of magic clinging to the masonry, the very stones where steeped in it.

The results seemed anti climatic after the days of fighting and struggling, but it meant so much more. Scotland... The puzzle was in Scotland, completed and whole. If the puzzle was whole that meant that Yami was there was well. There was no way that the wizards had figured out the puzzle this quickly. Not when it had taken Yugi, the one destined to solve it, close to a decade to solve the thing. So if the puzzle had been solved, then Yugi was, at the very least functioning enough to solve it. Functioning meant alive. And alive meant Ryou might actually speak to Bakura again.

Win.

Wasting no time, Bakura left the destroyed room, leaving the disaster behind him. Barely knowing where his feet where taking him, Bakura nudged the link he shared with Ryou, using that to find his way to his landlord. Ryou had managed to make good time. Or Bakura had been stuck in his room for longer than he had thought. Bakura could barely recognize where he was, despite having wondered the caves in all the free time he had. There was a lot of loot buried down here, hidden treasures from years of tomb keeping. Bakura had barely made a scratch in the amount, and already he had a fortune for the ages.

It was another left and a good five minute walk before Bakura finally caught up to where Ryou and Malik where. An extended wall blocked Bakura's sight, but he could hear them both before sight became an issue.

Bakura slowed his steps as he approached the corner, seeing Ryou and Malik a few feet away. Ryou was on his knees, his face a flushed mess of tears. Malik, Bakura noticed wasn't much better as he knelt beside Ryou, an arm thrown haphazardly over Ryou's shoulder. It was almost comical, in Bakura's new found good mood, to see Malik sobbing like a little girl. Malik was trying to keep it under-control, but Bakura could see the way he shook. Once they got this show on the road, Bakura was going to make sure that he never lived this moment down.

"Are you guys done? Or shall I fetch a mop?"

Ryou and Malik sprang apart, flinging themselves at least a foot in the opposite direction as Bakura stepped into the light. Ryou tripped over his foot on the way down, his feet becoming tangled underneath him, landing roughly on his rump. Malik managed at least a drop more decorum, but not much more as he stumbled against the far wall, clutching at his chest.

"What the hell Bakura!" Malik snapped, his cheeks bright red with embarrassment and anger as he roughly ran his arms against his cheeks in a desperate attempt to clean his face. Probably in hopes that Bakura wouldn't notice.

Too late for that.

"What?" Bakura asked innocently as Ryou sat up once more, his glare icy, demanding to know what was going on. He was still mad at Bakura from before, and this wasn't helping matters in the slightest. But Ryou never said anything, just watched his other through dark, puffy, hurt eyes. Bakura almost lost his train of thought as Ryou's side of the link slid open, and his lights residual anger and pain washed over him. Bakura ignored it however, it wasn't his fault that Ryou didn't know what was going on. So instead Bakura's expression went from blank to disdainful, his lip curling into a sneer. "So are you lot going to finish moping any day soon? We do have work to be doing."

Malik growled, his fist clenching angrily. Bakura's straight face broke as a smirk sprung across his face. He couldn't keep it down any longer. But it only seemed to annoy Malik even further as he advanced towards Bakura. "You heartless Bastard" Malik hissed as Bakura dodged the fist that was sailing towards his nose.

Bakura danced to the left as Malik whirled around. "How dare you crack a joke right now? Pass this off as nothing!" Bakura caught the fist this time, his fingers curling around Malik's to keep him there as the blond fought for control of his hand.

"Well it sure beats sitting here crying like some whiny princess when there's things to be done." Bakura taunted as he pushed his arm forward, bending Malik's wrist back onto itself. Malik grimaced at the pain, but didn't say a word in complaint as he tried to gut Bakura with his eyes. "Places to go, buildings to demolish, people to torture... you know, productive things." Malik's eyebrow rose to the ceiling at Bakura's comment, and his arm went limp in Bakura's hold, no longer tense and trying to break Bakura's jaw.

'What are you talking about Bakura?" It was the first thing Ryou had said since Bakura had appeared, and Bakura couldn't help but notice how tired he sounded. There was no energy, no life in Ryou's voice. It sounded like he had given up completely.

Letting go of Malik, Bakura walked over to his light, reaching down to grab onto Ryou's wrists. With little effort, he pulled Ryou onto his feet, wrapping an arm around the back of Ryou's neck, pulling him close. Ryou did nothing to help, not even reach towards Bakura's arm to try and loosen the awkward pressure along the back of his neck.

Bakura leaned closer, pressing his lips to Ryou's ear. "It worked" He whispered, feeling Ryou shiver slightly from the funny feeling. Ryou's eyes grew huge, as Bakura guided his hands to the ring around Ryou's neck.

"It worked?" Ryou questioned, his voice breathless as he held the ring up. His brown eyes flickered from the ring to Bakura then to Malik. The latter was frozen, a goofy grin spread across his face as he stared back. "Where!"

"Scotland" Bakura said with a shrug, "So anyone up for a search and destroy road trip?"


	13. Chapter 13

Errr…. Hi?

Bet you all thought I had abandoned you, huh? Yah, me to.

* * *

There wasn't much to look at in the Cairo International Airport gift shop. It was a fairly nice shop nonetheless, bright and open and filled with rows of magazines, books and pyramid shaped trinkets. But, the fact remained; no matter how nice it was it had never been designed to be anything more than a gift shop. Just a place to buy a book or a last minute, low budget present before heading out into Egypt.

It was not supposed to keep someone amused for more than a few minutes at a time. This was something Ryou had discovered after a scant half hour of wandering. In that amount of time he had just completed his third lap, and was beginning to feel the twinges of absolute boredom that was thrumming deep within his mind.

That was 2 hours ago.

Now, Ryou was going insane. Instead of pacing the room as he had earlier, Ryou tucked himself into the far corner of the shop, and had taken to leafing through a book called Tourism Egypt that he had found tucked between two romance novels. Ryou had pressed himself close into the minimal shadows of the shop, and ducked his head from the cashier who had been flashing Ryou dirty looks for the last 45 minutes.

Even as the boredom increased to an unbearable level however, the nervousness that rolled like a thousand butterflies in the pit of Ryou's stomach kept his mind alert. It felt as if he had been waiting in the small room for far too long to avoid suspicion. At any moment airport security was going to come and drag him of to some dark, soundproof room for 'questioning'. It wasn't safe to look like you were up to no good in an airport.

But Ryou had nowhere else to wait until Bakura came back, and Ryou had figured it was better to look nervous in a gift shop, than guilty in front of security. At least here it just looked like he was trying to steal a book on Egyptian tourism, instead of a plane.

The butterflies in Ryou's stomach turned to lead weights as his eyes darted for the thousandth time to his watch. Plane hijacking. When on earth had his life turned into this? Ryou Bakura, International Terrorist, nice to meet your acquaintance.

Good lord.

The plan to rescue Yugi and Yami had seemed ideal in its simplicity. Go to Scotland and take Great Britain apart stone by mossy stone until their friends were safe. However, there had been one debilitating flaw: How to get from Egypt to the British Isles with no money, no visa and no passports. They couldn't just buy plane tickets, and the rusted out jeep that Malik had found would not carry them over 2 bodies of water and across Europe. They were, for all intensive purposes, stuck. Yugi's transport spell had been deliberately designed to be just as much a prison as it as a salvation.

It had been Malik who presented their present solution after hours of heated argument. Kaiba Corp. had buildings scattered all across the globe, and the much beloved CEO kept jets in most of the major cities for easy transportation, Cairo included.

"We'll steal the plane," Malik had said, lips spreading wide into a Cheshire grin, as if it would be that easy. "Be in and out before Rich-Boy even notices it's gone."

Predictably, Bakura had loved the idea. And why wouldn't the Thief King be interested? It wasn't too often he got to steal something with a seven digit price tag. Neither of Ryou's companions seemed to understand the consequences that were so intimately linked with hijacking a plane. They had even scoffed when Ryou had started to throw around words such as "terrorism" and "life in prison".

A tinny buzz echoed along the smooth, white walls of the airport. Ryou jumped at the sound. His palms began to sweat and they shook violently placed the book back on the shelf, turning towards the door. He squared his shoulders against the accusatory glare the women behind the counter gave him as Ryou passed. He knew that she was searching his tee-shirt for any book shaped lumps. Ryou passed her what he hoped was a soothing smile and walked towards security.

The 11:20 flight from Chicago should have landed and unloaded by now. Ryou could hear the distant, thunder of hundreds of feet as they shuffled towards the narrow doorways that lead to the baggage claim. The flight was large, one of the biggest planes to pass through Cairo International. So when the mass exodus of people filed through the narrow doorway past security, Ryou struggled to find the familiar shock of bone white hair.

The fact he couldn't see Bakura caused Ryou's heart to leap into his throat. When Bakura had left Ryou in the gift shop, he had left to sneak into the airports unloading bay. It was a feat Ryou wasn't positive it was possible. Airport security was incredible thick, and while Bakura was good quite possibly the best a large part of Ryou's mind was certain that he would fail.

But, there he was. He weaved through the crowd effortlessly; entirely ignorant of the fact the crowd like canned sardines. Now at the front of the crowd, Bakura led the way down the hall to baggage claim, his hands stashed carelessly in his pockets. He glanced up once as he passed Ryou, and gave his light a nod in greeting. Ryou smiled and he raced up to Meet Bakura, as if he was just meeting a relative at the airport.

The mass of people who had acted as their camouflage soon thinned out as the long snake-like baggage carousals came into view. Bakura slung an arm around Ryou's shoulder as they passed the rainbow parade of suitcases. Instead he led them out of the airport, and into the blistering heat of midday Egypt.

The moment the sliding doors hissed closed behind them, Ryou was blasted by the sounds of airport. Inside the long, cement building the air was still and isolated. But outside, it was sensory overload. The tangy smell of exhaust from dozens of Taxi's and tour buses, a sea of tourists and locals that walked in every direction, each with an urgent destination in mind. The roar of airplane engines as they took off from the tarmac deafened, and completely covered the monotone of voices that wove through Ryou's mind.

There was a cheap metal bench a few feet from the door. Forgotten behind the shadow of a large bus stop, Malik had quickly discovered that over half the bench was all but invisible to airport security. The cement walls and tin roof of the bus stop was in direct conflict with the video cameras that had been posted strategically throughout the airport. Bakura slouch low on the bench, and tried to press himself as close to the hidden corner as he could. Ryou gingerly sat down on the sun-soaked metal. He carefully turned his body towards the camera, and tried to block Bakura from sight.

"Did you get one?" Ryou hissed.

Bakura yawned and reached his arm up to rest on the back of the bench by Ryou's neck, the very picture of ease. "It actually sounds like your doubting me Ryou." He said, shaking his head with a mocking frown. "I'm wounded."

Ryou rolled his eyes and Bakura dug his free hand into the inner pocket of the light, white jacket he was wearing. It wasn't one that Ryou recognized, and from the too tight fit through the shoulders, it was a recent acquisition. Ryou could see why Bakura had swiped it. The inside pocket, was less of a pocket and more of a zippered access to the jacket lining. And the lining was filled with thin leather wallets of all sizes and colours.

Step one, Complete.

Ryou thought as relief swept through him like a warm cup of tea. It didn't mater that step one was by far the easiest and least illegal of the activities on Today's agenda. The fact they had succeeded in even doing one thing made this inconceivably stupid plan actually seem possible. "How may do you have in there" Ryou asked, reaching out to thumb one of the many spines inside the jacket.

Bakura shrugged as he pulled the zipper shut, readjusting his jacket so the weight was distributed equally across his thin frame. "little more than a dozen I think. Give or Take some. Idiots make it far too easy, just reach and grab."

"As long as no one noticed you"

Ryou yelped as Bakura slapped the back of his head none to gently "Again with the bitching" Bakura said and his mocking frown turned into a scowl. "I've only been doing this before your family tree was even a nut. As long as no one noticed you?! Get your head out of your ass."

"Sorry". Ryou said, and placed his hand on Bakura's leg, unsure if the other man was still joking around. "So do you think there's a pilot license in there?"

Bakura grunted. "Malik checked the flight registry. Kaiba crop hires a number of pilots, but apparently it's cheaper to have them fly commercial and then use the company jet back for the delivery, Always knew Kaiba was a stingy bastard."

"Bakura!"

But Bakura ignored Ryou as he slipped the jacket off and passed it to his light. Ryou draped it over his lap, and tried to be subtle as he slipped his hand into the lining pocket. "You're looking for brown leather with thick black stitching." Bakura said, as he rested his head against the back of the bench. "Smaller than the rest."

Ryou nodded. "Silver KC in the corner?"

"That's the one." Bakura sunk deeper into the hard, unforgiving bench, and tilted his face up to the pulsing heat of the sun, shutting his eye to soak up the heat. "Your turn Ryou. You'd better not screw this up."

Ryou took a deep breath as he flipped through the folds of the wallet. "I'll be fine," He said, and Ryou tried to keep the nervous throb out of the words. But judging from the disapproving look on Bakura's face however, Ryou knew he had been far from successful.

"East side parking lot, One hour Ryou." Bakura said shortly as he stood up from the bench, and the relaxed man Ryou was just getting used to was gone without a trace. "Do not make me come after your scrawny ass."

Dean Sutherland had been a pilot for a little over 3 years now, and almost all of this time he had been an over glorified currier for Kaiba Corp. This was something Dean wasn't sure he was proud of. The job paid well, but flying cargo between Egypt and Japan wasn't what he had imagined for his dream job. The sleep deprivation alone was probably going to but him in an early grave. Even though Dean was only 32, his wife, Katelynn was quite adamant that his black hair had started to gray at the temples. This was only made worse by the fact Dean didn't have to look in the mirror to know that if the bags under his gray eyes got any larger, he wouldn't need a suitcase.

14 hours on a public plane from his hometown, Chicago to Egypt. And Dean would have to wait another two hours before his own plane would be ready for liftoff. It added up to a good 24 hours without sleep, and after that it would be a motel room bed instead of being at home with his family. But it paid well, and for now that was all Dean cared about.

His legs felt like lead as Dean shuffled his way to the Starbucks booth in one of the airports waiting bays. He stifled a large yawn with the back of his hand, and fell into the line that wound to the left of the small, understaffed booth. There were a good five people in the way of Dean's caffeine fix, a thought that was almost enough to make Dean meltdown.

Resigned to wait, Dean rolled his shoulders in a desperate bid to release some of the tension there. He cast heavy eyes across the hall, and took in his surroundings. The airport looked like any other he had been to. Uncomfortable plastic seats that stretched in every direction, separated only by gates that lead to the planes outside. The Starbucks booth stood in the very center of the room, between the chairs and the many restaurants and duty-free shops that lined the far wall.

A nervous twitch had formed between Dean's shoulders however. It was an odd tingling sensation, like an itch he couldn't scratch, and it had been building since Dean had left baggage claim. It felt as if someone was staring at him, but the only people who cared about Dean's habits were in Chicago. Dean scrapped a hand across his face and tried to shake the cobwebs from his mind. Maybe caffeine withdrawal had made him paranoid. It would not have been the first time.

Or maybe Dean wasn't going crazy. Over by the Magazine stand, the oddest-looking teenager that Dean had seen in a long time was staring at Dean with very little shame. The kid was pale, quite probably the palest person he had ever seen, with long white hair that, despite the impossible colour, did not seem dyed. At first glance, Dean thought the kid, probably closer to teen, was an Albino. But his eyes were far to dark, a rich chocolate-brown.

The teen was biting his lip, and squinted owlishly in Dean's direction. The pilot ducked his gaze, more than a little uncomfortable by the attention. Maybe if Dean just ignored the problem it would go away, it seemed like a good plan. More than likely Mr. Creepy had just been looking for a friend, and not Dean. It was a possibility, it was a busy airport, and Dean knew for certain he didn't recognize the kid. That wasn't a face one forgot.

"Excuse me?"

Much to his chagrin, Dean jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice directly behind him. There was no doubt who it belonged to, and Dean swore in his head as he turned around, and he put on the most charming smile he could muster as if he hadn't known the kid was stalking him. "Yah?"

"Are you Dean? Dean Sutherland?"

Great, Mr. Creepy knew his name. "I am." Dean said gruffly. There was not point in beating around the bush. Now that he was closer, Dean realized that the teen was tiny. He couldn't way more than 100 pounds soaking wet. Dean didn't know what he had been concerned about.

The teen smiled, warm and open, and any hesitation that had remained started to trickle away. "Thank goodness. I wasn't sure if it was you or not. I mean I have your photo, but ID photo's aren't always that great so I wasn't sure..."

"Excuse me?" Dean said, but he managed to keep his voice friendly as the kid rambled. "If you don't mind me asking kid, but who are you?"

The teen blushed up to his ears, and ducked his head. "S-sorry" he stammered, and wrung his hands. "I'm Ryou... and I think I've found your wallet."

Dean's hands flew to the back pocket of his worn jeans. Much to his horror however, his searching hands did not find the familiar lump of his wallet. Instead his finger's slipped into two ragged slits that ran along the bottom of his pockets. He had been picked! "Great." He swore, and he stepped out of the line for the coffee he could no longer afford. He had been next in line. "Isn't that just wonderful."

Despite the ever-increasing urge to hit something, Dean forced his attention back to Ryou. It took all his effort to keep the civil smile on his face. 'Thanks, I guess." He said, and his voice twanged with frustration. "Where'd you find it?"

Ryou shrugged. "Washroom floor. I was going to take it to security, but my brother's flight will be in soon and I have to meet him here. He'd be angry if I forgot about him, if he didn't get lost trying to find me, no sense of direction."

The kid was rambling again. Dean put up a hand to cut him short. "Do you have it with you?" he asked before Ryou had a chance to speak again. Maybe he could get his coffee before the line got to big again.

But Ryou's blush only grew deeper. " No, Sorry. It's in my car; I didn't expect to actually find you. I mean what are the chances of that happening? I was going to drop it off at the American embassy later. It isn't that far from our hotel."

At least the kid was being honest and hadn't just kept the wallet for himself. "Alright." Dean said with a huff. 'Why don't we go out to your car? There aren't any flights due for another 20 minutes or so. We'd make it back it in time for you to meet up with your brother."

Ryou's eyes flicked down to his watch, and a furrow formed between his brows. "Don't worry kid. We have plenty of time." Ryou nodded, but the nervousness didn't seem to fade. It left Dean to wonder what kind of brother the kid was picking up, than again it probably didn't take much to freak the kid out.

"The cash is gone I'm afraid." Ryou said as they walked through the busy airport towards the East Side Parking Lot. "But they left your Id's and Cards. It shouldn't be the end of the world."

"Should still cancel my credit card though" Dean said darkly, and rolled his eyes to the heavens. "Oh Katelynn is going to kill me"

"Katelynn?" Ryou asked

"My wife." Dean said. "I'd show you a picture, but you have my wallet."

The words hung in the air, and Ryou seemed only to sink further into himself at the mention of Dean's wife. The feeling of odd returned to Dean with a vengeance, but he ignored it as Ryou came to a holt in front of a dull red jeep that looked as if it had been left out in the sun and the sand one too many times. The frame was so rusted that it was hard to tell where the pain began and the metal corrosion ended. "This it?" Dean said trying to fill the awkward silence.

But Ryou didn't seem willing to say much more, but he bit his lip and nodded his head in response to Dean's question. Despite this however, Ryou made no movement towards unlocking the rust bucket. Dean felt the warm bubble of frustration build in his stomach. At this rate he was going to be late for take off, and wouldn't getting fired be the perfect ending to an amazing day. "Look kid." he snapped. "If you have my wallet, I really need you to get on with it"

Stars erupted behind Dean's eyes, and his words came out in a slurred mess. Fiery stabs of pain ricocheted from the top of his skull to the very tips of his toes. The entire world flashed a blinding white, before it all faded into blurred gray darks that danced across the parking lot, and made it impossible to focus on anything.

The last thing that Dean saw when he slumped to his knees was the worried face of Ryou as the teen leaned over him. But when even being on his knees was too much to handle, and Dean's vision tunneled around the edges, Ryou's face seemed to split into two. Dean's last thought before he landed face first on the burning, unforgiving asphalt was to wonder how it was possible for one Ryou to look so concerned while the other could look so evil.

* * *

"Help me get him up." Bakura snapped as he threw the heavy lead pipe into the back of the jeep. "We're too exposed out here. We have to clear out before someone spots us!"

Ryou shook himself like a dog coming out of water, and ripped his gaze from Dean's lax features. Despite the disapproval that he felt, Ryou yanked open the Jeep's passenger door, and pulled the seat forward to show the back seats. Bakura stooped down and wrapped his arms beneath Dean's armpits and around his chest to grab the pilot's wrists. Taking his cue, Ryou scurried round to grab Dean's ankles and together they stuffed the man haphazardly into the back seat.

They pealed out of the parking lot in a blur of burnt rubber, and Ryou felt himself relaxing now that they were out of the busy airport lot. He slumped into the threadbare material of his seat, overwhelmed by how boneless his body had become. He just stared blankly ahead as Bakura drove them around the airport towards the private structures. Inside however, Ryou found himself fighting to remain silent, especially as he was unsure if he was about to laugh or cry.

Ryou twisted around in his seat and tried to catch a glimpse of their passenger. A thin river of blood had trickled down Dean's hairline, and it left a red river that dripped down into his collar. "Did you have to hit him that hard?"

"Knocking someone out is an art Ryou" Bakura said gruffly and he shrugged one shoulder. "There's a fine line between awake, unconscious and dead. I know what I'm doing."

Ryou bit his lip, "Do we have any Tylenol at least?" he said and pulled open the dashboard and began to root through the compartment. But all he found was a ripped map and a package of tissues. Ryou pulled the tissues free and reached around as far as his seatbelt would allow, and he dabbed at the cut on Dean's scalp. 'His head's going to be killing him when he wakes up."

"He'll also be a mind slave, so what difference does it make?" Bakura said shortly, and he left no room to continue the conversation. They drove in silence, and Ryou continued his make shift first aid until Bakura jerked the wheel to the right for sharper than was necessary. Ryou cried out as he was thrown into the door, and found no protection from his mostly off seatbelt. "Bakura!" Ryou snapped as he pulled himself up off the door. Bakura chuckled, and barely gave Ryou a chance to recover before he stomped on the brakes in front of a large white washed and industrial metal hanger.

The building and adjacent runway were surrounded by an imposing chain link fence that stretched for miles in every direction. It stretched a good 10 feet into the air, and lines of razor-sharp bared wire, was twined in large bur tight circles along the top. There was no hope of climbing over the fence, not without loosing a pint of blood in the process. Parallel to the hangar doors however, was a thick steel gate that Ryou predicted was the only entrance to the Kaiba corp. private hangar. But even that was designed to be impenetrable, and was guarded by two of Kaiba's, for the lack of a better word, henchmen.

Tall and burly, they struck an imposing feature in fitted, black suits and mirrored sunglasses. Both seemed impervious to the stifling heat that had glued Ryou's light tee-shirt to his back. Both had their suits fully done up and their ties where tight and neat. It wasn't a sight Ryou had expected. Malik was supposed to have taken are of anyone between them and the plane. But the blond was nowhere insight.

At the approach of the jeep, both of the guards had snapped to attention, and eyed them with hostile attention. Ryou broke out in a cold sweat as they raised heavy assault rifles that Ryou doubted where for keeping out the wildlife.

"Bakura!" Ryou hissed as he tried to shrink as far down in the seat as he could. But he knew that if something happened, the rusted frame would give about as much protection as a sheet of paper. The guns rose a little higher, and Ryou's stomach lurched at the sound of a safety being clicked off. "Do something please!"

Bakura rolled his eyes and stuck his head out of his window. "Malik, get your ass out here. Princess over here is having a panic attack."

A loud snicker echoed from the shadows of the hangar. Ryou squinted into the bright light, and was barely able to make out the blurry features of the wayward blond. But as Malik came into the light, Ryou could see the millennium rod that was clasped tightly in his fist. As Malik approached, the tension slipped from the armed guard's shoulders as suddenly as oil from water. Their expressions went slack, and the tips of the rifles dropped to the sand. "Way to take away my fun Bakura" Malik wined petulantly as he slipped the rod back into his belt loops. " I wanted to see what he'd do."

"Hey!" Ryou cried, and Malik smirked in his direction.

"Not the time, Malik." Bakura snapped as he stepped out of the jeep and glanced around the hanger. "Is the perimeter clear? Or have you been to busy being an idiot?"

"Not very friendly." Malik said with a sigh. "It's clear. But there'll be a guard change in 20 minutes, so we need to be quick."

Bakura nodded. "It's good enough. Malik open the gate before we're caught. Ryou help me with your boyfriend before he wakes up."

Ryou blushed, but he dutifully followed Bakura's request. Together it wasn't too much of an issue to slide Dean out of the back seat, but his head collided less the gently with door frame when they tried to get any farther. Ryou winced at the rough treatment, but Bakura didn't seem to notice. Instead he crouched down and slung the pilot up over his shoulder and down his back like a sack of potatoes.

There was only one plane inside the hanger. A small, but lithe black jet with the Kaiba crop silver KC emblazoned on the tail. Bakura staggered as he entered the hanger, and grunted as Dean fell unceremoniously to the floor beside the door of the plane. "Opps?" Bakura said with a grin as he rolled his shoulders, his hand coming up to dig into the meat of the joint. 'He's heavier than he looks."

"Of course he is." Ryou said as he leaned Dean up against the wall, and rubbed his hand along Dean's skull to feel for potential damage. It didn't take him long to find the lump on his head, and the long welt that ran through it. Malik dropped down beside Ryou, and peeled back Dean's eyelid to get a glimpse at his pupils.

"We'll have to wake him up before I start." Malik said as Dean's head lolled back to his chest. '' 'Cause I don't know how good my control's going to be if he's unconscious."

"Potentially easier said than done," Ryou said, as he held bloodstained hands up to the light before he rubbed them clean on his jeans.

Malik's eyes widened at the sight. "How hard did you hit him?" he asked Bakura.

"Hard enough."

"Apparently." Malik said, and he reached out to slap Dean none to gently on the cheek. "Wakey, Wakey big guy."

There was no response. Ryou glared at Bakura as Malik started to slap Dean harder, and he shouted in the man's ear. But Dean remained stubbornly unconscious. "Seriously Bakura?" Malik drawled, "What, did you decide brain-dead was a necessary prerequisite for flying? Hate to tell you but it doesn't work that way."

Bakura flashed Malik the one finger salute. He crouched down in front of Dean and pulled the limp man up by the collar of his dark gray tee-shirt. Bakura ran bony knuckles along Dean's ribs, and pressed in ruthlessly deep when he reached the pilot's sternum. Dean released a soft, pain-filled moan, and curled inwards. "And that boys and girls" Bakura sneered as Dean's eyes fluttered under his lids "Is how to wake up an unconscious person.

"Freakin' know-it-all." Malik muttered under his breath as he pulled out the Millennium Rod.

"Ryou, wallet" Bakura barked as he stared at the key card lock on the jet's door. Ryou pulled Dean's identity card free of the thin leather and pushed it towards Bakura. Bakura yanked the card through the lock and grinned triumphantly as the red light on the lock flashed to green. "Jackpot!" He crowed, but at the sound of his voice the light on the consul flashed to yellow.

"Voice recognition failed" A monotone female voice echoed from the tinny speakers that no one had noticed before. "Please re swipe card and state name and identification number again."

"Trust Kaiba to be a paranoid bastard" Bakura said with a swear and turned his head over to Malik and Dean. "How much longer Malik?"

"Don't rush me," Malik said through gritted teeth. "Do have any idea how hard it is to control someone with a concussion?"

"Oh stop whining and get on with it."

They didn't have time for another childish argument; But Ryou knew there was little he could do that wouldn't add fuel to the fire. But...

Ryou paused as he edged closer the hanger's doors. It was hard to tell over top of all the squabbling, but Ryou was willing to put money on the fact he had heard a car come up. But that wasn't possible. By Malik's information, they should still have about 10 minutes left.

Ryou edged closer to the door, and peeked his head around the corner. Sure enough, a black sedan with heavy tinted windows had parked in front of the wide-open gate. Ryou scrambled away from the door and out of sight as a man and women in black suits and sunglasses climbed out.

"We have a problem!" Ryou said frantically as he turned back to Malik and Bakura in a desperate bid for attention. 'We have to clear out now!"

"What?!"

"Shift change was early," Ryou said in response to the unanimous question. "We gotta go."

Malik swore and the Millennium rod glowed brighter in response. A bead of sweat ran down his chin and Dean's eyes slowly began to focus on Malik and glaze over with a Mind slave's attention. Ryou noticed with a grim shudder that Dean's pupils were still grotesquely blown and unequal. But Dean was standing, and with Malik's frenzied prompting he worked on the jet's lock.

The door opened with a mechanical hiss, and a metallic ramp fell to the cement floor with a crash. Ryou pushed Dean towards the doors before it had fully opened. His eyes grew double in size however as the sharp report of a rifle lodged a bullet a scant inch from his ear. Ryou scrambled back on his hands and knees, and nearly fell of the ramp.

Bakura growled and he whirled around to come face to face with the female guard that Ryou had seen earlier. "That was your only warning," she said coolly as she cocked the gun again and shifted so all four men were in her range. "Step away from the jet with your hands up or I'll shoot to kill."

"Get on the plane Ryou. Malik help him with Mr. Pilot." Bakura said and he crouched down low, his hands spread. 'Ill be there in a second."

"No! She has a gun!" Ryou shouted as Malik clambered onto the ramp and began to push Ryou and Dean into the plane. "Bakura! What are you doing!"

The women raised the gun, pointing the sight at Malik's back. But before she could get the shot off, Bakura rushed her, and grappled with her gun in an attempt to pull it free. But the woman wasn't going down without a fight, and she slammed a knee into Bakura's stomach. As Bakura doubled over, wheezing, she ripped the gun back and without even a blink it erupted with a thunderous bang.

Bakura cried out as the round dug deep into his shoulder, and red splashed the wall behind him. He staggered back, and fell to his knees as his good hand shot up to cover the wound.

"Bakura!" Ryou screamed. He leaped off the plane, and ran towards his dark. Before the women could get the gun around to make good on her shoot to kill promise, Ryou slammed his shoulder into her stomach and threw her off her feet. The women's head collided with the blood stained wall with a sickening crunch. And she slid like a rag doll down the wall, a streak of her own blood mixing with Bakura's.

"Ryou come on!"

Ryou jumped at Malik's harsh voice. He shook himself and watched with disturbing detachment as Malik slung Bakura's good arm over his shoulder to lead the barley upright man to the jet. But Bakura shrugged him off, despite the rivers of red that were running down his arm and stained his shirt. Ryou came out of his daze immediately and shouldered his way into Bakura's side, and pressed up close. He didn't offer the blatant support that Malik had, but provided stability, taking only the weight Bakura was willing to give.

The Jet came alive with an earth-shattering roar. Under Malik's control, Dean tore down the runway. He left the women's backup in his dust before they could organize enough to stop them. Ryou could hear the shots that ricocheted against the durable metal frame. Ryou tucked in closer to Bakura as the plane began to shake. He prayed to whoever was listening that the plane would hold, that a shot wouldn't fit the glass of the windshield.

"Hurry up Dean" Malik growled and he dug his nails into the newly made mind slave's shoulder. "Get us up, you idiot. Up!"

Dean pulled on the steering column and the nose of the plane shot up into the air, throwing them all to the floor. The trembling grew more violent as the jet lurched. But then it leveled, taking them to Scotland


	14. Chapter 14

It's kind of hilarious that the only time I have to work on Fan fiction is when I'm supposed to be working on my essays. Seriously I had three essays due this week, and this felt like the only thing I could work on. Mind you I got everything done, and you have a new chapter so i guess everything worked out in the end.

MAJOR thanks to DemonKittyAngel for finding the time to beta all 12 pages of this for us!

* * *

The Millennium Puzzle had not wanted to shut down the dark game.

It refused to dissolve even a single ounce of the magic it had been so willingly provided without a sacrifice. The sacrifice that Yami had torn away from the penalty game before the tribute had fully been accepted. In response the Puzzle began to fight against Yami in a way it had never done before.

It had been a long time since Yami had instigated a dark game. But he knew that it shouldn't have taken any effort to dissolve it. Yami reached out to where his magic coiled beneath the surface of the puzzle. But even as he grasped at the edges of it, the magic slipped away like a slippery eel. Every time he reached for it, the puzzle buried its powers deeper and deeper.

The puzzle had never denied him anything before; Yami didn't even think the puzzle had the ability to deny him. How could it? The Puzzle was supposed to be nothing more than magic infused metal. At times it was difficult to tell where his magic began and the powers of the puzzle ended. But apparently the line was more distinct than Yami had ever known.

Then again, Yami had never tried to shut down his own dark game before the penalty before.

If the Millennium times had truly been animate, Yami would have called the writhing presence in his mind anger. But gold puzzle shouldn't be sentient. It wasn't alive, and it couldn't produce human emotions. But there was no denying there was something in the puzzle, something strong enough to create the reality the dark game was so intricately woven into. He wasn't so proud to admit that he even began to understand the mysteries of the Millennium Puzzle, despite two lifetimes of ownership. More than likely he would never truly understand the puzzle, and maybe that was for the best

However, even if Yami didn't understand the puzzle, or any of the millennium items for that matter, he was still Pharaoh, still Yami no Yugi. The puzzle was his to control.

Yami gave one final push against the seemingly impenetrable barricade that separated his mind from the magic just below the surface. It wavered under the force. But Yami kept up the pressure until it slowly began to fracture.

Then, like a rubber band stretched too far, the magic slammed into Yami. He stumbled, lightheaded and more than a little giddy from the force of it, but he spread it out into the dark game without a second thought.

There was a pause, a frozen moment where nothing happened.

The dark game collapsed in on itself. The real world faded back into reality like a water colour that had been left in the rain. Pernicious purples and Midnight Blue were washed away, and slowly revealed the rich brown and warm creams beneath. The musk of decay and death that seemed to be an ever present companion to the game, became crisp and clean with a floral undercurrent of fresh herbs.

However, Yami was still off balance from the tidal wave of power from the Puzzle. There was no time to recover his bearings as the hospital wing slid into place. The moment the arched stone windows of the hospital wing came into focus, there was a gruff cry of a male voice just inside Yami's hearing. All he could pick up was a single word in a language familiar but foreign enough that it was impossible to properly translate.

Yami hadn't even realized he was in solid form.

The spell hit him in the back with breathtaking force. The air left his lungs in a whoosh, and the muscles in Yami's body sized and locked tight as if the tissue had been replaced with unyielding iron. His legs shifted until they were a shoulder width apart, and his arms hung useless at his side as heavy as marble. He tried to shift his weight, to turn to see who had attacked him, but it was useless. Yami couldn't even twitch his little finger; All he could do was stare unblinkingly forward to the blank wall.

There was no one in front of him. But the pressure of a disembodied hand pressed down deep into his shoulder made it feel like there was. The pressure bodily turned Yami's disobediently unresisting body fought the motion with everything he had, but he could do little more than grind his heels to the stone floor, and the pressure on his shoulder pressed in to the point of pain. In the end Yami was helpless as he was spun around to face a grim Albus Dumbledore who had his wand out and pointed at Yami's chest.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Yami." Dumbledore said. His words were neutral, but every inch of the man's elderly body was poised for action.

Yami glared at the white haired man with as much venom as he could muster in such a humiliating position. "Let go of me, old man." He bit out between clenched teeth. It was uncomfortable to move his lower jaw, but at least whatever magic that held him prisoner allowed for that much movement. "Or I promise you won't like the results."

Albus met his gaze square, unflinching for someone who had seen what the puzzle and Yami was capable of doing. "Now is not the time for idle threats ." He said. Yami growled in response and continued to pull against whatever held him. But there was no give.

He tried to gaze around the wide circular room. But the parts of the hospital wing that Yami could see were empty. But Albus -despite being whippet thin- was a tall man, and his sweeping robes completely blocked Yami's central vision. He craned his eyes as far to the side as he could until dark spats invaded his sight and rendered his sight useless.

"Where is he?!"

"Here." Albus said with a vague wave of his hand. "Madam Pomfery is tending to him as she treats Minerva."

Albus did not move from his obstructive vantage point in front of his prisoner. As Yami strained to see around the towering figure, Albus straightened noticeably, and spread his shoulders wide. Yami ground his teeth. He had promised Yugi that the violence was done. And even though the irrational anger that had been Yami's driving force not an hour before faded with each moment that passed, this old man was doing nothing to remove the alarm bells of threat that rang through Yami's mind. "I want him back."

"All in good time."Albus said. "As I mentioned before Mr. Yami: we need to talk."

"About what?!"Yami snapped. "There's absolutely nothing to talk about! You will give him back to me." The puzzle began to glow in response to Yami's sharp words, and dark tendrils coiled and writhed beneath his feet. "My patience is wearing thin old man."

"Enough." Albus said and the calm that shrouded the man began to crack. "You attacked my colleague without reason, and Minerva has yet to awaken. Then young mutters something about saving her and he drops like a stone." Dumbledore took a step forward, and Yami wished he could move his neck up to look the wizard in the eyes. "I need you to explain what is happening."

Yami took a deep breath. "Nothing that you could ever understand." he said, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice. "However, I can promise that your witch will be fine."

"Not good enough I'm afraid." Albus said.

"My magic is not something for you to understand." Yami said. "So pardon me if I'm not willing to be frank with you. Where is my light?!"

A tongue of blue flame leapt out to meet the darkness that streaked towards Albus's feet quick as a snake.

They clashed between Yami and Albus, and pushed against each other in a perfect stalemate. Albus's magic was hotter than it had ever been before. The darkness hissed as it came into contact with the flames that scorched the stone floor beneath them but the darkness never faded.

But both flickered and died in an instant when Madam Pomfery cried out.

"Albus!" she said, her voice high and shrill with panic.

Albus whirled around, his long white hair and beard swirling in a wide circle around him. As he turned, Yami was able to see the prone form of Minerva lying on the bed a few feet away from him. Her face was pale and pinched, but her chest rose deep and even.

"Hold him down!" Madam Pomfery cried. Yami's heart froze in his chest even before he knew what was going on. But Albus bend down to pin two thin wrists down to the mattress, Yami fell to the real world with a horrifying crash. Yugi writhed on the sheets like he was attached to a live current. His arms and legs twitched and jumped violently and his head rocked back and forth on the pillow.

"Aibou!"Yami cried as Yugi's back arched into a violent curve and his hands knotted tightly to the thin blanket that had once covered him. Yugi's visible eye snapped open at the sound of Yami's voice, but all that could be seen was the ghost like whites of eyes that had rolled into the back of his head. "Aibou!"

Madam Pomfery waved her wand above Yugi's body, and a thin band if light stretched across his chest in a pale blue web. It pulsed in an unsteady rhythm, rapid but weak. "His heart rate is dropping." Poppy said as she dropped her wand to help Albus keep the seizing teen on the mattress "Albus, It's the collar. We need to take it off him!"

'Let me go!"Yami cried. "You have to let me go!"

They ignored him.

Albus's eyes dropped to the thin piece of metal around Yugi's neck. "Your quite correct." he said to Madam Pomfery. "I don't know how he managed to help Minerva earlier with this on, but It's too much for him now. His body is shutting down."

Yami could feel the thin sliver of silver inside is mind begin to fade. Whatever energy Yugi's body had been using to cause his muscles to shake, gave out without a moment's hesitation. Yugi fell to the narrow mattress like a marionette with its strings cut, and remained as still as the grave. Yami reached out the barely noticeable strip of light inside of him to try and stabilize it. But the moment his mind made contact he was overwhelmed by a sharp spear of panic that raced through him, foreign yet so familiar. In the same moment Yugi took one final solid gulp air, that feel into barely perceivable staccato gasps.

Yugi was dying, and they both knew it.

"I'm afraid that all we can do is get the collar off."Albus repeated as Madam Pomfery used her wand to lift the mattress and Yugi up into a reclined position to help him breathe. But it seemed to provide little assistance.

"I've tried!" Poppy said. "But the metal's charmed against low level unlocking or cutting spells. If I try anything stronger that in itself will kill him!'

Yugi's head rolled to the side as the two wizard's continued to argue, and he smiled when his clouded gaze met Yami's. Yugi reached off the edge of the mattress, and his fingers stretched out towards his dark's. But they didn't make it far, as the effort of lifting his arm out proved to be too much. His arm fell boneless to the mattress, and Yugi stared blankly to the ceiling with his other's name on his lips.

Something inside Yami snapped.

Albus and Madam Pomfery flew from Yugi's bedside, sand slid along the smooth stone floors, several feet away. The invisible force that held Yami immobile melted away as if it had never existed. Yami leapt forward oblivious to the wizards he had just thrown aside. "Aibou" he said softly, and he extended his hand towards his other.

Yugi's eyes closed.

"Get away from him!" Poppy yelled as she stumbled back to her feet.

Albus was up not a moment later, and his wand was raised, a spell on his lips. But something tugged on his sleeve. Albus turned his head as far to the side as he could without breaking eye contact with Yami. "Wait."

Minerva released Albus' sleeve, and dull green eyes framed by purple bags stared at Yami without emotion. Albus watched Minerva for a moment, before he held a hand to Poppy, signalling her to lower her wand. Together they watched transfixed, as one of Yami's long hands reached up to hover over Yugi's narrow throat.

Poppy's eyes darted towards Albus, her wand at the ready but Albus's eyes narrowed behind his spectacles, and he shook his head. Instead Albus pressed a finger to his lips. Poppy bit her lip, but did as she was bid. For now she would just watch, certain that they were signing the child's death warrant.

Despite the uncensored violence Yami had shown before, his hand didn't move more than a few inches above Yugi's delicate airway. Instead a cloud of black, blue and purple formed underneath Yami's palm. The wizard and witches watched transfixed as the miasma slowly sunk towards Yugi's collar, and seeped into the metal. The collar's surface instantly darkened, and the lustrous metallic sheen dulled.

The collar began to hum, louder and louder under Yami's ministrations. At the sound, Yami's fist clenched, and more of the dark shroud bled into the metal.

The metal began to pulse

Yugi screamed.

"Stupefy!" Poppy screamed. Yami whirled around, and his eyes flashed inky black. A frigid darkness encased Poppy and Albus up to their shoulders. It froze them to the spot, like they had Yami not a few moments before.

"He's going to kill Yugi!" Madam Pomfery cried as she pulled against the bonds that held her. But it only squeezed tighter. "Albus!"

Yami's eyes narrowed, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. The metal began to crack, delicate fishers that spread like spider webs across the surface. Yugi screamed louder, his voice rising to an unearthly octave.

Yugi reached up, and clawed weakly at the source of pain. But Yami calmly moved the hands away from Yugi's throat. He held them in a one handed grip, leaned forward, and whispered something in Yugi's ear.

"He wouldn't." Minerva said softly from the bed, and with a struggle she levied herself up onto an elbow. "I don't even think he could"

"What are you talking about!" Poppy snapped, and she watched with horrified eyes at the tragedy she was certain was unfolding. "Look at him!"

"I am." Minerva said softly, and the words were almost lost to a faint cracking sound that was soon followed by the crash of metal striking stone. "I am"

Yami crashed to his knees, all pretence of grace or dignity gone. The force that kept Albus and Poppy faded without a trace as Yami's thin hand stretched out along Yugi's neck. Searching fingers traced the raw edge of skin that had been hidden beneath the collar, before they pressed into the side of Yugi's neck.

A broad grin spread across the young man's face. It was so warm, open and genuinely happy that if Poppy had not seen it happen, she wouldn't have believedYami could seem so human.

"You're okay." Poppy heard Yami say as she cautiously approached the bedside. His voice was suspiciously chocked as he brushed Yugi's bangs away from his face."You're going to be alright now."

With all the caution she would present to a rouge hippogriff, Poppy pulled her wand into Yami's sight. Ruby eyes snapped to her face the moment she was within a foot of the bed. The hostility was still there, as was something darker that Poppy was afraid to name. But she was determined to move beyond that.

"I'm just going to check his vitals." She said placating. "You've already seen me do the spell."

Yami tensed, and his fingers clenched into a fist where they rested on Yugi's cheek. But he nodded his head in agreement.

"His heart rates steady." Poppy sighed in relief. "His breathing is a little too shallow for my tastes, but it's regulating. It might be too early to tell. But I think he'll be okay."

"He will" Yami said in a tone that left no room for argument. Poppy smiled as Albus came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Go check on Minerva." he said softly, and he stroked his long beard. "I don't think some chocolate and a pepper-up potion or two would go a-miss here."

"Of course." Poppy said, and she scuttled off to the large medicine cabinet that stood at the far side of the room.

Albus watched her go. "We still need to talk " He said, but some of the coldness was gone from his tone. Instead it was more quizzical than anything else. "But I think that can wait until morning."

Yami nodded.

"You are welcome to stay here tonight." Albus continue. "There are plenty of beds, or I'm sure I could find you a room if that is more to your liking."

"No." Yami said shortly. "No, thank you. I need to stay with my light."

The pepper-up potion returned most of the colour to Minerva's face. However, as usual, Albus was unsure if the rosy tint it brought to her cheeks was due to health, or the taste of the portion. But by the time he approached her bed, Minerva was already arguing with madam Pomfery as she tried to get out bed.

"I'm fine Poppy. Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure."

Poppy nodded. "A good night sleep in the hospital wing." she amended firmly. It was nice to hear the familiar, no-nonsense tone of the school nurse one more. "And no classes tomorrow!"

"I have not canceled a single class in all my years of teaching. " Minerva snapped as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I am not about to start now."

"There's a first time for everything Minerva."

Albus held up a hand. "Is there anything currently wrong with Minerva, Madam Pomfery?"

"She was unconscious Albus." Poppy said as she crossed her arms tight in front of her chest. "For over an hour. I think that's grounds enough to keep her here."

Albus smiled. "And while that is worrisome, I'm afraid that was not what I asked."

Poppy frowned. "Her vitals look normal, so, no. Not that I can see."

"Alright than."Albus said, and he clapped his hands. He turned to face his transfiguration professor. "How do you feel?"

"Fine." Minerva said shortly. It wasn't exactly the truth, Albus could tell from the thinness of her voice. But it was close enough. Minerva wouldn't lie if there was something truly wrong.

Albus nodded, his blue eyes twinkling. "Then it's off to bed with you." he said. "I'll make sure the house elves leave you some more chocolate for a nightcap. And your morning classes will be cancelled."

"Excuse me." Minerva said incredulously. But Albus held up his hand.

"You need the rest my dear. I'm sure Professor Quirrell will be able to cover for you, I don't believe he has any conflicting classes."

And that was that.

Madam Pomfery went back into her office, she only paused to pull the curtain partisan around Yugi's bed shut, hiding the teen from view.

Albus held out his arm to minerva, who took it gratefully as she rose onto unsteady legs. They left the hospital wing in silence, and didn't say a word until they stood outside Minerva's door.

"This is quite a mess you've gotten us into my dear." Albus said shaking his head. "Quite a mess indeed."

Minerva's lips pressed into a thin line. "I won't send them back" she said meeting Albus gaze square. "No matter the tricks Fudge pulls out of that ridiculous hat of his." But Albus could read the question that burned behind her square spectacles.

"Then we'll just see what happens next." Albus said, and he dug into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. He clicked it open with a practiced flick of his thumb and stared long and hard at the planets that moved along the rim. "But that is a decision for tomorrow."

The corners of Minerva's mouth twitched in an almost smile. "Tomorrow then"

It wasn't until Albus locked the door to the hospital wing that Yami moved towards his light.

A large part of him was still hesitant, and it waited for the wizard's next move. These thoughts were only amplified by the fact Yami did not understand what happened. That Yugi's suffering could end with such little conflict. He couldn't help but wonder what the next course of action could be.

Did they just rescue Yugi out of the goodness of their hearts? It was doubtful, that trait was far too rare among people. But, was the seemingly selfless assistance a ploy in hopes for future reciprocity. Or something deeper?

Yami didn't know.

And that scared him.

But Yugi moaned softly from his narrow mattress, and in that moment all thoughts of the future were put to rest.

Yami sat down on the edge of Yugi's mattress, and took one of Yugi's hand in his own. Yami pressed his lights clammy fingers to his cheek. "Aibou" he whispered, with more than just words alone. "it's time to wake up."

With gentle pressure, Yami eased the mind link open, just enough to let his mind brush against Yugi's, as light as a butterfly's kiss.

Consciousness stirred just beneath the surface, but it was still too early for Yugi to return to reality without assistance. It would take time, and plenty of rest before Yugi would heal. However, as much as Yami would love to let Yugi's sleep the millennium away, he needed to wake up. At least long enough for Yugi to know it was safe, and for Yami to be certain that no permanent damage had been done.

Adrenaline still raced through Yami's limbs. He focused on it. The tingling in his fingers, the pure energy that artificially filled his mind and raced liquid fire through his blood. He pushed those feelings down through the mind link, far stronger than anything mortal medicine magic influenced or not, could imitate.

The result was only going to be temporary. But Yami didn't want to keep his other awake for any longer than was necessary. Yami could also feel the bone deep wariness that clung to him like a second skin. He would have to return to the puzzle soon as well.

They both needed rest.

Yugi moaned again, and his hand tightened slightly around Yami's. "Mou Hitori no Boku?" he breathed. "What happened?"

"More than I can understand." Yami said. "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling?"Yugi asked as he tried to sit up. But he was barely able to lift his chest of the bed before he fell back with a sharp cry. It felt like he had been hit by a bus. Every muscle in his body ached in a way that Yugi had not felt before, and his head throbbed with every pulse of his heart. "Oh my" Yugi groaned as he fell back to the mattress with a boneless thump.

Yami chucked as he pressed a hand to Yugi's chest, and spread his fingers over the steadying rhythm below. "Maybe that's not a good idea Aibou." he said with a soft smile. "You're far less well than your mind is trying to tell you."

But Yugi wasn't listening. "Mou Hitori no Boku?" he asked again. But as the last clinging whispers of sleep faded away, the way he said his other's name changed drastically. Yugi pulled his hand from the bedsheets.

"Aibou, you need to stay still. Rest."

It was more of an effort than Yugi was expecting to stretch his arm the small distance between them. But he couldn't rest until he knew for sure.

Yugi pressed shaking fingers to Yami's cheek. His dark leaned into the touch, and the permanently rigid set to his shoulders loosened slightly when Yugi's thumb brushed the skin under his eye.

"You're back?"

It was a question, not a statement. Yami bowed his head as he placed his hand over his light's. "I never left you." He said, and Yami turned his head to press his lips to Yugi's palm. "Nothing can separate us for long Aibou."

Yugi smiled as he burrowed his head into his pillow. "That's not what I asked."

Yami sighed. "I know." he whispered, and let Yugi's hand drop back to his side. Yami leaned back on the mattress, and moved as far away from Yugi as he could without moving off the mattress.

"I'm so sorry." he said

"I know."

"…can you forgive me?"

Yugi didn't respond. He reached out to rest a hand on yami's elbow. Yami frowned at the warm pressure, but just watched as Yugi slowly used his Dark's arm as leverage to lift himself off the mattress.

"Aibou stop." Yami whispered, and he tried to push Yugi back down to the bed. But Yugi just glared at him. While his only visible eye was hard, there was no anger there, only determination. Against Yami's better judgement, he moved his arm lower, so Yugi could use his shoulder to sit up properly. He hoped that Yugi would be content with just sitting up.

That didn't last long however, and Yugi soon toppled over into Yami's chest. The small light wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, and pulled his other as close as weakened muscles would allow.

In that moment, the dark stone in Yami's chest shattered into little more than sand. He felt light as air, like if Yugi were to let him go he would float away. A chocked sob escaped his lips, and Yami pulled Yugi tighter to his chest, his arms completely enveloping Yugi's tiny form.

"Aibou."Yami whispered into Yugi's hair as Yugi buried his face into the crook of his dark's neck. "I missed you, so much."

"I'm sorry" Yugi whispered.

"Don't be. Not for this."

Yugi smiled. Yami could feel the warmth of the emotion far more clearly than he could see it, and it echoed through him, and it echoed through him in a way nothing else ever could. "I'm so tired Mou Hitori no Boku"

"Than rest Aibou." Yami said as he gently pulled free a lock of Yugi's blonde fringe free from the bandage on his face. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Yugi tensed as Yami lowered him back to the mattress. "Stay with me?" he asked as Yami tucked the sheets around him.

Yami shook his head. "I have to go back to my soul room."

Under normal circumstance, that wouldn't have mattered. It was nothing for Yugi to come and rest in Yami's soul room, or the other way around. But after what had happened to Yugi when they had been separated, Yami didn't know if things would ever be like that between them again. "Keep the puzzle with you, and I'll know when you wake up."

Yami stood, and slowly began to release the magic that stabilized his physical form. Before he had the chance to let go completely however Yugi's had grabbed onto his wrist. "That's not good enough." he said, staring through eyelids that were half closed in exhaustion. "Mou Hitori no Boku, please."

"Aibou, I can't"

"Then, I'll go with you."

Yami reeled back. He hadn't considered that Yugi might want to go back to their soul rooms. No Aibou," Yami said gently, and he slowly peeled Yugi's fingers from his wrist. "You're not ready for that yet."

"I know that." Yugi whispered, and he squeezed his eyes tight. "But I can't be alone. Not tonight, please Mou Hitori no Boku."

"I..."

"Please. I need to know that everything's alright between us."

The image of Yugi's soul room door, flashed in his mind's eye, broken and violated. That wasn't something Yugi would be able to just shrug off. It seemed that even Yugi could see that. But...

Yami shook his head as he pressed his fingers to the middle of Yugi's third eye, and pictured the fortified tone of his soul room.

There would be time to deal with everything tomorrow.


End file.
